Human body odour, genetic variability, and sexual orientation: A reply to D. Oliva

Sir – In a letter to the Editor, D. Oliva has raised the hypothesis that there might be a guiding thread through pheromone communication from unicellular organisms up to humans, which may serve as an expla- nation for human homosexual orientation. Although we do not want to reject this hypothesis in its entirety, as links between olfactory signals and human sexual ori- entation remain poorly understood, the argument seem to be too simplistic in light of evolutionary adaptation- ism and neurobiological research, and requires further investigation and discussion. Our reply should not be regarded as criticism, but rather to encourage further academic discussion.