Biography:George Preti
George Preti | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 7, 1944 Brooklyn, New York City , U.S. |
| Died | March 3, 2020 (aged 75) Hatboro, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Citizenship | USA |
| Known for | Research on human body odors and TMAU |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | organic chemist |
| Institutions | Monell Chemical Senses Center |
George Preti (October 7, 1944 – March 3, 2020) was an analytical organic chemist who worked at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For more than four decades, his research focused on the nature, origin, and functional significance of human odors. Dr. Preti's laboratory has identified characteristic underarm odorants,[1] and his later studies centered upon a bioassay-guided approach to the identification of human pheromones, odors diagnostic of human disease, human malodor identification and suppression and examining the “odor-print” of humans.
Early life and education
Preti was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He received his B.S. in chemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1966. He earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1971 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a specialty in organic mass spectrometry in the laboratory of Professor Klaus Biemann.[2] That same year he joined the Monell Center.
Career
Preti was also an adjunct professor in the Department of Dermatology of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Research
In addition to having published dozens of peer-reviewed research articles, Preti held more than a dozen patents related to deodorance, odor mediated control of the menstrual cycle, and the use of odors in disease diagnosis.[3][4] His unique area of research resulted in hundreds of clinician-directed referrals of patients with an idiopathic body and oral malodor production problems. His efforts in this area revealed a large, undiagnosed population of people suffering from trimethylaminuria, an odor-producing genetic disorder.
Preti’s work has frequently been cited by the news media, including The New York Times magazine section,[5] The Philadelphia Inquirer,[6] and ABC’s “Primetime: Medical Mysteries”.[7]
Publications
- Johnson, A. T. Charlie; Khamis, Samuel M.; Preti, George; Kwak, Jae; Gelperin, Alan (2010). "DNA-Coated Nanosensors for Breath Analysis". IEEE Sensors Journal 10 (1): 159–66. doi:10.1109/JSEN.2009.2035670. Bibcode: 2010ISenJ..10..159J.
- Kwak, J.; Willse, A.; Preti, G.; Yamazaki, K.; Beauchamp, G. K. (2010). "In search of the chemical basis for MHC odourtypes". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 277 (1693): 2417–25. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.0162. PMID 20356897.
- Preti, George; Leyden, James J (2010). "Genetic Influences on Human Body Odor: From Genes to the Axillae". Journal of Investigative Dermatology 130 (2): 344–6. doi:10.1038/jid.2009.396. PMID 20081888.
- Wysocki, Charles J.; Preti, George (2010). "Human pheromones: What's purported, what's supported". Sense of Smell Institute. http://www.senseofsmell.org/research/C.Wysocki-White-Paper-Human_Pheromones.pdf.
- Kwak, Jae; Opiekun, Maryanne Curran; Matsumura, Koichi; Preti, George; Yamazaki, Kunio; Beauchamp, Gary K. (2009). "Major histocompatibility complex-regulated odortypes: Peptide-free urinary volatile signals". Physiology & Behavior 96 (1): 184–8. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.10.003. PMID 18957300.
- Miyazawa, Toshio; Gallagher, Michele; Preti, George; Wise, Paul M. (2009). "Odor Detection of Mixtures of Homologous Carboxylic Acids and Coffee Aroma Compounds by Humans". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57 (21): 9895–901. doi:10.1021/jf901453r. PMID 19817417.
- Miyazawa, T.; Gallagher, M.; Preti, G.; Wise, P. M. (2009). "Psychometric Functions for Ternary Odor Mixtures and Their Unmixed Components". Chemical Senses 34 (9): 753–61. doi:10.1093/chemse/bjp062. PMID 19773409.
- Miyazawa, Toshio; Gallagher, Michelle; Preti, George; Wise, Paul M. (2009). "Methodological Factors in Odor Detection by Humans". Chemosensory Perception 2 (4): 195. doi:10.1007/s12078-009-9060-6.
Death
He died on March 3, 2020, of bladder cancer in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.[8][9]
References
- ↑ Booth, William (1990-08-28). "Scientists Follow Scent to Underarm Discovery". The Washington Post. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1990-08-28/news/9008280624_1_underarm-odor-apocrine-gland-preti.
- ↑ Biemann, Klaus (1994). "The massachusetts institute of technology mass spectrometry school". Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry 5 (5): 332–338. doi:10.1016/1044-0305(94)85048-8. PMID 24222587.
- ↑ Search Results for author Preti G on PubMed.
- ↑ "Justia Patents". http://patents.justia.com/inventor/GEORGEPRETI.html.
- ↑ Bunn, Austin (2000-10-15). "The War on Stink". The New York Times.
- ↑ Avril, Tom (2007-04-09). "Chemist helps folks whose body odor's a bit fishy". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ↑ "The Model Who Smells Like Dead Fish". ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2287206&page=1#.TtU8iLJGHh8.
- ↑ Roberts, Sam (April 1, 2020). "George Preti, 75, Dies; Studied Bodily Odors as Biological Clues". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/science/george-preti-dead.html.
- ↑ "Monell Chemical Senses Center". http://www.monell.org/george_preti_tribute_hidden_disease_early_diagnoses.
External links
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