Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Hanns Hatt (actually, Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Med. Habil. Hanns Hatt) of the Department of Cell Physiology at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, is in hot pursuit of understanding — understanding, especially, the many and varied roles played by olfaction. In a word: smell.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Hatt’s home page lists a few of Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Hatt’s many olfaction research activities and discoveries. Among these:
- “SCIENCE-Publication: Sperm follow their nose — Human sperm are attracted by the smell of ‘lily of the valley’ flowers. Researchers from the University of Bochum prove this for the first time. They found a blocking odor, who switch off the smell-orientation of sperm.” For details of that, see his (and colleagues’) paper “Identification of a Testicular Odorant Receptor Mediating Human Sperm Chemotaxis“.
“Scent of a Woman – and much else besides — Apart from the effect that the length and shape of Cleopatra’s may or may not have had on history, what’s in a nose?” Dr. Dr. Dr. H’s book Das Maiglöckchen-Phänomen (The Lily-of-the-Valley Phenomenon), written with Regine Dee, pursues this theme in splendiferous detail.
(Thanks to Lisa Oberzaucher for bringing Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Hatt and his work to our attention.)
CAUTION: One must not confuse Hanns Hatt with Hans Hatt. The former is a model modern biology researcher. The latter is a model in the fashion industry. Here is (non-Prof., non-Dr., non-Dr., non-Dr.) Hans Hatt’s modeling marketing photo:
