For commuters, it is one of the downsides of the glorious summer weather — being trapped next to a fellow traveller’s sweaty armpit.
But scientists today revealed a breakthrough in their understanding of what causes body odour that could transform the effectiveness of deodorants.
It comes as the Met Office today announced a 70 per chance of a heatwave alert this week with temperatures in London forecast to exceed 30C.
Today a team at York University, aided by scientists at Oxford University, announced they had identified the first step in how Staphylococcus bacteria in our armpits produce the most pungent component of body odour.
They have decoded the structure of a molecule, known as a transport protein, that enables the bacteria to “swallow up” odourless compounds secreted in sweat and convert them into the distinctive odour.
Cracking the molecule’s chemical structure means that a new generation of deodorants could be developed to disrupt its function.
Dr Gavin Thomas, from the department of biology at York, who co-authored the research, said: “Modern deodorants act a bit like a nuclear bomb in our underarms, inhibiting or killing many of the bacteria present in order to prevent BO. This study, along with our previous research revealing that only a small number of the bacteria in our armpits are actually responsible for bad smells, could result in the development of a more guided weapon that aims to inhibit the transport protein and block the production of BO.”
He added: “The skin of our underarms provides a unique niche for bacteria. Through the secretions of various glands that open on to the skin or into hair follicles, this environment is nutrient-rich and hosts its own microbial community, the armpit microbiome, of many species of different microbes.”
The researchers were able to see the transport protein’s detailed molecular structure by crystallising it in laboratories at Oxford. The study, published in the journal eLife, may also benefit medical science by showing how “transporters” in bacteria enable drugs to be absorbed in the small intestine.
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Concerns about a heatwave reduced from 90 per cent to 70 per cent probability today but the weather in the South is expected to remain “dry, sunny and warm” for the rest of the month.
Transport for London said the fine weather had seen record hires of Boris bikes — 1.1 million in May and 1.18 million last month. Record numbers of bicycles were recorded on cycle superhighways on Blackfriars Bridge and Victoria Embankment.
