Is the perfume industry looking for fragrances in the wrong place?

Throughout history and across cultures, body odour has played a key role in attraction, just as it does with many other animals. Yet modern societies tend not to appreciate nature's perfume. Many of us go to considerable lengths to expunge our personal smells and replace them with ones we consider to be more appealing. Instead of apples in our armpits, we have deodorants and perfumes that are marketed as smelling of innocence, vivacity, sophistication or whatever attributes we believe will make us more alluring. Is the multibillion-dollar fragrance industry missing a trick? As we discover which elements of body odour are attractive and to whom, the commercial potential of these chemicals is becoming increasingly apparent. Most people don't want to smell of sweat, but it can only be
 a matter of time before some components of our natural perfumes are bottled.