Found the 'smell of death'

Identifying the characteristic body odor after death caused scientists to hope to find corpses easier.

Identified the characteristic odor of the body after death

According to Tech Insider, when natural disasters or accidents occur, lifeguards have to flip the wreckage of the building or the forest to search, mark and identify corpses. This is a very hard work, often needing a professional help dog.

A lifeguard takes a professional dog to search for victims after an earthquake in Nepal.(Photo: CNN).

However, training dogs to detect the smell of death is difficult, because we do not fully understand the chemicals that the body releases when dying.

In a study published Sept. 16 in the journal Plos One, researchers at the University of Leuven, Belgium, said they found "the smell of death" , after analyzing many human organs and decomposing animals.

Specimens from human tissues, organs and 26 animal species such as pigs, rats, rabbits, are sealed in glass containers and placed in a closet. Within 6 months, the team regularly analyzes the generated gas. from rotting body parts. They isolated 452 chemical compounds "with the smell of death" , and 5 of them were human characteristics.

"Further research in this area, combining the use of an intact corpse, will help find one or more of the characteristic signs of people, " said Belgian scientists. "These signs will help train professional dogs more effectively, even develop specialized search devices."