Moms and pups sniff out immune genes
By John Travis
Given how similar newborns can look, forgive parents if they have trouble picking out their bundle of joy from the swaddled masses in a maternity ward. Perhaps they should sniff each one. After all, among animals, many parents and offspring recognize each other by scent.
The major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a cluster of genes important to the immune system, is at the heart of this olfactory ability, suggests a mouse study in the Sept. 12 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.