In the olden days, a 鈥渘ose job鈥� referred to a cosmetic surgical procedure to improve the shape of someone鈥檚 nose. By the mid-21st century, it signified the 鈥渟uper smell鈥� procedure whereby a person鈥檚 olfactory sense was augmented and supercharged. In this case, people went from having the standard human number of 6 million olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity, to over 100 million, the average in a canine nose. Human sense of smell became equivalent to that of a dog.
This wasn鈥檛 without its challenges. The transition from a standard sense of smell to one on a par with a bloodhound had to be carefully orchestrated. Post-op, supersniffers could detect the stress levels of people around them, the menstrual status of women, the food people down the road were eating, what those nearby had eaten yesterday, the cleaning products used and even the growth efficiency of plants. For this reason, new supersniffers were isolated in smell-deprived clean rooms and only gradually exposed to more and more olfactory stimulants.
The operation to achieve this was far more involved than cosmetic surgery. A person鈥檚 nose was removed, scraped of internal tissue and refilled with a transplant of their own stem cells. These were programmed to differentiate into olfactory cells and repopulate the inner shell of the nose. When the nose was reattached, neural stem cells grew and connected to the olfactory bulb at the base of the forebrain.
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Most people were happy to accept a slightly more bulbous nose than before, enlarged to accommodate the augmented sense. Some people elected to receive a significantly larger nose in order to achieve a higher level of smell superpower. A minority went 鈥渇ull dog鈥� and chose a wet nose modified to produce more mucus, which in dogs is used to trap scent particles and improve their sense of smell.
The critical period was the growth of the olfactory receptor neurons and their integration with the brain. Patients were given drugs that temporarily increased their neural plasticity. This refers to the way the brain as we learn new skills, such as when we get to grips with riding a bike. Work in the mid-2020s had shown that the brain is and able to accommodate new sensory input.
A subsection of those having nose-jobs did, it is true, succumb to bottom-sniffing greetings, as seen in dogs
Once the new smell cells had , the brain was retrained by exposure to ever-increasing levels of olfactory stimulation. Post-op patients were given bland foods and gradually built up to richer, smellier fare.
The reasons people underwent nose-augmentation were varied. Many did so in order to improve their ability to do their jobs. Chefs with super-smell became famous for the exquisite dishes they created. Detectives found their assessment of crime scenes and interrogation of suspects went to another level. Like dogs, they could determine the passage of time since someone had picked up an object or walked across a room, because they could assess the reduction in chemical odours that had occurred over time. In politics, negotiations became more subtle and successful. With augmented smell, a diplomat could determine if their opposite number was fearful, confident or aggressive. Lying could be easily detected.
Ecologists with augmented smell found they could sense the health of symbiotic relationships in soil, especially those between fungi and plants, and the levels of herbivory, decomposition and growth in local environments. As a result, they were better able to direct ecosystem restoration efforts. They could also sniff out truffles.
Not everyone used their new abilities for higher purposes. A subsection of nose-job humans did, it is true, succumb to the bottom-sniffing greetings seen in dogs. But most focused on more thoughtful applications. Caregivers with this sense were particularly effective. Doctors and nurses could understand the mental and physical state of their patients far more accurately, and adjust their approach accordingly. Preventative medicine improved too. Just as dogs could be trained to detect , , , 笔补谤办颈苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 disease and more, smell-augmented people helped detect health conditions at the earliest stages, when they were more treatable.
And yet, as the benefits of augmented smell became more widely appreciated, many people had nose jobs just to experience life more deeply. Emotional intelligence increased as we became more aware of each other鈥檚 inner lives. As artificial intelligence infiltrated more and more of our lives and activity, the augmented sense was seen not as dog-like, but as an ultra-human modification. It opened doors to a world of experience and feelings that AIs didn鈥檛 have access to; it made us more alive.
Rowan Hooper is New Scientist鈥檚 podcast editor and the author of How to Spend a Trillion Dollars: The 10 global problems we can actually fix. Follow him on Bluesky @rowhoop.bsky.social
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