The Scent of a Man

A new study (published here) suggest that scientists unable to replicate  behavioral studies in rats and mice may be due to the presence of male researchers.

The presence of male experimenters produced a stress response in mice and rats equivalent to that caused by restraining the rodents for 15 minutes in a tube or forcing them to swim for three minutes. This stress-induced reaction made mice and rats of both sexes less sensitive to pain.

The chemical signals emitted by males of any species are detectable by other species. Since males secrete these pheromones at higher concentrations than women, the effects tend to be limited to male researchers. Rats and mice acclimatize over time to the male researchers, suggesting an ‘easing’ in period prior to experimentation or perhaps, even better, even more effort to promote women in science!

Since there is growing evidence that humans respond to pheromones, I wonder if there is a similar effect caused by male researchers on human subjects; namely, is stress induced in males and females when experiments are conducted by men? Outside the lab, does the scent of a man induce stress and reduce pain response, but in a good way? I’ll end with ‘Boys‘ by Robots in Disguise.