What Women Want From Men?

THE SCENT OF SEX

 According to new scientific research, a woman will literally sniff out a man's genetic make-up before she decides if he's right for her. A woman's sense of smell reaches a peak around the time of her ovulation, the 24-hour window -during the monthly menstrual cycle in which she can become pregnant. 

 The genes responsible for fighting off disease-causing bacteria and viruses are found in a group of genes called the major histocompatibility complex, or MHC. Different people have various versions of these genes - and it turns out that women can benefit in two ways from mating with men whose MHC genes are dissimilar to their own. Such a mate is likely to have more dissimilar genes in general, so finding someone dissimilar attractive might help to prevent many of the birth defects associated with reproducing with close genetic relatives. 

Sexy tone: Voice pitch is the most striking feature of human speech n] A second benefit is any children of such a union will have a more robust immune system. The interesting thing is that women seem to be able to sniff out men with dissimilar MHC. In a revealing study, Brazilian researchers asked 29 men to wear cotton skin patches for five days to absorb their sweat - and thus their body odours. 

 A sample of 29 women then smelled each cotton patch and evaluated the odour on a scale from attractive to unattractive. Scientists identified the specific MHC complex of each man and woman through blood tests. Women found the aromas of men who had a complex dissimilar to their own to be the most desirable. The odours of men who had a complex similar to their own made them recoil in disgust.