Eating asparagus causes a genetic mutation behind changes in the smell of urine.

There are two kinds of people in the world: one who eats asparagus and the smell of urine becomes strange, while the other does not.
in the British Medical Journal's 2016 Christmas special, scientists were encouraged to submit serious research on seemingly absurd subjects.
researchers are trying to figure out the genetic mutation behind asparagus's change in urine odor.
important first: Why do asparagus make the smell of urine change? The reason is Asparagusic Acid, which the body breaks down into smelly sulfur-containing ingredients.
asparagus acid, the substance produced by digestion is volatile, meaning it evaporates at room temperature.
, it doesn't take long to smell strange.
1987, Waring et al. used a gas chromatography to analyze the volatile parts of asparagus urine.
results, they found the following characteristic components in asparagus urine: methyl thiol, dimethyl dithione, dimethyl thioethyl ether, dimethyl methylene, and dimethyl methylene.
they reported that the mixture of methyl thioether and dimethyl thioEther smelled close to asparagus urine.
in 2001, Leitner et al. used a similar method to perform gas chromatography and found a total of 12 sulfur-containing compounds, including methyl thiol and dimethyl thioethyl ether.
most studies have shown that everyone produces the substance after eating asparagus, but only some people don't have enough odors to smell it.
and it's not a black-and-white thing.
some super-sensitive people smell even if they eat a little asparagus, while others only smell a lot of asparagus.
although excretion of the substance may seem normal, no one can be sure whether those who "can't smell strange smells" will not excrete it.
study published Tuesday, Sarah Markt and Lorelei Mucci of the Harvard School of Public Health delve into the secrets of asparagus urine.
reported that 40 percent of the study subjects (2,748 out of 6,909) were able to smell a distinctive smell in their urine after eating asparagus, while another 60 percent could not.
women reported fewer asparagus smells in their urine, despite the fact that women were more capable of discerning odors.
the result of this accident is that some women don't report strange smells in their urine because of their disgust," the authors wrote.
", the study has limitations, but if self-reporting is accurate, researchers may find clues about the genetic origin of this strange taste.
researchers found 871 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that appear to be associated with "asparagus olfactory deficiency," a term that refers to asparagus that cannot be smelled in urine.
SNP is the most common genetic variant.
all urine SNP appears in genes associated with smell.
believe that perhaps the gene could be used in the future to treat loss of smell.
.