ISU professor uses new machinery to find smells' origin
Koziel researches chemical makeup of many scents
By By Katie Schmitt
Daily Staff Writers
Few people realize what actually makes a substance smell bad. One ISU professor, however, is working with a machine to find out what really makes a smell smell.
"Almost anyone can relate to odor," said Jacek Koziel, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering. "We encounter them every day."
Koziel said he is getting to know smells on a personal level by researching the chemical makeup of each unique scent to better understand what makes some stink and others smell nice.
"If you know the biochemical pathways, then you can change the smell," said John Mabry, director of the Iowa Pork Industry. "Odor is an important topic, because if you understand what causes it, you can produce animals with the least amount of odor possible."
Koziel is doing this by using a custom-made instrument and software that allows the researcher to smell the odor at the same time the program does. This allows them to "compare notes" to determine which odors smell worse.
"We can sniff odors with our own noses and know if they stink," Koziel said.
"This lets us know the chemical components that make up the odor that stinks."
Koziel said by knowing the chemical components of the smell they can figure out how to control it; this is especially important in livestock odors.
Jay Harmon, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, said there are several research methods to analyze how to reduce odor in livestock. Some of these include the nutritional diet of livestock, filters and UV light to break down the chemical components of odor.
Harmon said there are two facets to odor. The long-term is how odor is a nuisance to those who have to deal with it on a daily basis and how they can reduce odor to a tolerable level for farmers and their non-farming neighbors.
"In the short-term, we are educating people about what makes a difference when it come to reducing odor," Harmon said. "Some things are common sense, but we're trying to talk to farmers about simple things they can do to reduce problems like using filters or changing their diet."
Harmon said determining what is a tolerable level is difficult because what smells bad to one person may not to someone else.
"It all depends on which odor," Koziel said.
"There are many different kinds of odor: food, indoor air, livestock. We still don't know how humans sense odor or how it is transported to the brain."
Koziel said that is what makes his field so exciting.
"There is so much we still don't know about odor," he said.
"Almost anyone can relate to odor," said Jacek Koziel, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering. "We encounter them every day."
Koziel said he is getting to know smells on a personal level by researching the chemical makeup of each unique scent to better understand what makes some stink and others smell nice.
"If you know the biochemical pathways, then you can change the smell," said John Mabry, director of the Iowa Pork Industry. "Odor is an important topic, because if you understand what causes it, you can produce animals with the least amount of odor possible."
Koziel is doing this by using a custom-made instrument and software that allows the researcher to smell the odor at the same time the program does. This allows them to "compare notes" to determine which odors smell worse.
"We can sniff odors with our own noses and know if they stink," Koziel said.
"This lets us know the chemical components that make up the odor that stinks."
Koziel said by knowing the chemical components of the smell they can figure out how to control it; this is especially important in livestock odors.
Jay Harmon, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, said there are several research methods to analyze how to reduce odor in livestock. Some of these include the nutritional diet of livestock, filters and UV light to break down the chemical components of odor.
Harmon said there are two facets to odor. The long-term is how odor is a nuisance to those who have to deal with it on a daily basis and how they can reduce odor to a tolerable level for farmers and their non-farming neighbors.
"In the short-term, we are educating people about what makes a difference when it come to reducing odor," Harmon said. "Some things are common sense, but we're trying to talk to farmers about simple things they can do to reduce problems like using filters or changing their diet."
Harmon said determining what is a tolerable level is difficult because what smells bad to one person may not to someone else.
"It all depends on which odor," Koziel said.
"There are many different kinds of odor: food, indoor air, livestock. We still don't know how humans sense odor or how it is transported to the brain."
Koziel said that is what makes his field so exciting.
"There is so much we still don't know about odor," he said.
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