{"id":957,"date":"2026-07-29T11:52:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-07-29-naked-mole-rat-queen-odor-en\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:52:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T04:52:57","slug":"2026-07-29-naked-mole-rat-queen-odor-en","status":"publish","type":"briefing","link":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-07-29-naked-mole-rat-queen-odor-en\/","title":{"rendered":"The queen vanished, but her scent stopped a power struggle for 12 weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026-07-29 11:52 KST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Applying one odor chemical each day to a queenless naked mole-rat colony suppressed reproductive activation and succession fighting for 12 weeks.<\/p>\n

Isopropyl myristate, also used in cosmetics, temporarily stood in for royal authority, but this laboratory animal result has no basis for extrapolation to people.<\/p>\n

A mammal society organized like a beehive<\/h2>\n

Usually only one queen reproduces while other animals gather food and rear young. Removing her triggers fierce competition among high-ranking females.<\/p>\n

Researchers analyzed 771 odor samples from 351 animals and found isopropyl myristate, or IPM, highly enriched in queens.<\/p>\n

Odor alone suppressed reproduction<\/h2>\n

Opposite-sex pairs isolated from the colony became reproductively active. No pregnancies occurred in six pairs given queen-scented bedding or seven pairs exposed daily to IPM.<\/p>\n

IPM activated olfactory pathways, raised prolactin and kept progesterone low in nonbreeding females.<\/p>\n

\"Explanatory
Produced explanatory image: it visualizes queen odor in a colony and is not a photograph of the experiment or a wild burrow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A queenless colony stayed quiet for 12 weeks<\/h2>\n

After removing the queen from a 19-member colony, researchers added IPM to the bedding daily. Aggression and dominance contests were absent during the 12-week treatment.<\/p>\n

Conflict resumed after withdrawal, a rare example of one chemical coordinating physiology and behavior across a mammal society.<\/p>\n

Humans can barely smell it<\/h2>\n

IPM is used as a cosmetic emollient and solvent and is effectively odorless to people. The effect depends on naked mole-rat sensory biology and social organization.<\/p>\n

It does not imply that cosmetics alter human fertility or hierarchy, and the experimental exposure cannot be compared with everyday product use.<\/p>\n

The wild-colony test is still missing<\/h2>\n

The work used managed colonies and isolated pairs. How IPM combines with contact, rank behavior and other odors underground in nature is unknown.<\/p>\n

Researchers still need to identify its production pathway and receptors and ask whether other cooperative mammals use comparable signals.<\/p>\n

Official primary sources<\/h2>\n

Primary source: Nature original research<\/a><\/p>\n

Primary source: Max Delbr\u00fcck Center research release<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daily application of a queen-enriched chemical kept a queenless naked mole-rat colony from reproductive activation and succession fighting for 12 weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"class_list":["post-957","briefing","type-briefing","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing\/957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/briefing"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}