Mosquito.Photo: gettyThere may not be much hope for “mosquito magnets.“An article published inScientific Americanon Tuesday revealed the results of a recent study thatproves certain people are significantly more attractiveto mosquitoes than others.“The question of why some people are more attractive tomosquitoesthan others—that’s the question that everybody asks you,” Leslie Vosshall toldScientific Americanin an interview.Vosshall, a neurobiologist and mosquito expert at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Rockefeller University, co-authored the study. “My mother, my sister, people in the street, my colleagues — everybody wants to know.“So Vosshall set out to find the answer.The study, which included 64 participants, concluded that a person’s body odor plays a big role in determining whether a mosquito is enticed to bite.A human’s scent profile is constructed of different chemical compounds and after the scientists finished their research, they uncovered a pattern. People with skin that produce greater levels of carboxylic acid were significantly more appealing tomosquitoesthan those that produced less.The study entailed participants wearing nylon stockings on their arms for six hours to capture their unique scent. The researchers then cut the stockings into pieces and put them into containers with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The insects then migrated to a scent — or didn’t.The study also revealed that the levels of acid produced didn’t change over time, even if a person’s diet or habits changed. The bad news –– if mosquitoes like you, they’re always going to like you.“This property of being a mosquito magnet sticks with you for your whole life — which is either good news or bad news, depending on who you are,” Vosshall told the outlet.Scientists are still working on solving one more mystery –– why do mosquitoes love carboxylic acid so much?Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Maria Elena De Obaldia, a senior scientist at the biotech company Kingdom Supercultures and author of the study, has a hypothesis, though she admits it’s just speculation. De Obalia toldScientific Americanthat since A. aegypti mosquitoes evolved to bite human beings instead of animals, it makes sense that they become highly skilled at determining the difference between humans and animal odors.Humans emit copious amounts of carboxylic acid when compared to animals and De Obaldia suggests that’s why mosquitoes gravitate to us.
Mosquito.Photo: getty
There may not be much hope for “mosquito magnets.“An article published inScientific Americanon Tuesday revealed the results of a recent study thatproves certain people are significantly more attractiveto mosquitoes than others.“The question of why some people are more attractive tomosquitoesthan others—that’s the question that everybody asks you,” Leslie Vosshall toldScientific Americanin an interview.Vosshall, a neurobiologist and mosquito expert at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Rockefeller University, co-authored the study. “My mother, my sister, people in the street, my colleagues — everybody wants to know.“So Vosshall set out to find the answer.The study, which included 64 participants, concluded that a person’s body odor plays a big role in determining whether a mosquito is enticed to bite.A human’s scent profile is constructed of different chemical compounds and after the scientists finished their research, they uncovered a pattern. People with skin that produce greater levels of carboxylic acid were significantly more appealing tomosquitoesthan those that produced less.The study entailed participants wearing nylon stockings on their arms for six hours to capture their unique scent. The researchers then cut the stockings into pieces and put them into containers with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The insects then migrated to a scent — or didn’t.The study also revealed that the levels of acid produced didn’t change over time, even if a person’s diet or habits changed. The bad news –– if mosquitoes like you, they’re always going to like you.“This property of being a mosquito magnet sticks with you for your whole life — which is either good news or bad news, depending on who you are,” Vosshall told the outlet.Scientists are still working on solving one more mystery –– why do mosquitoes love carboxylic acid so much?Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Maria Elena De Obaldia, a senior scientist at the biotech company Kingdom Supercultures and author of the study, has a hypothesis, though she admits it’s just speculation. De Obalia toldScientific Americanthat since A. aegypti mosquitoes evolved to bite human beings instead of animals, it makes sense that they become highly skilled at determining the difference between humans and animal odors.Humans emit copious amounts of carboxylic acid when compared to animals and De Obaldia suggests that’s why mosquitoes gravitate to us.
There may not be much hope for “mosquito magnets.”
An article published inScientific Americanon Tuesday revealed the results of a recent study thatproves certain people are significantly more attractiveto mosquitoes than others.
“The question of why some people are more attractive tomosquitoesthan others—that’s the question that everybody asks you,” Leslie Vosshall toldScientific Americanin an interview.
Vosshall, a neurobiologist and mosquito expert at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Rockefeller University, co-authored the study. “My mother, my sister, people in the street, my colleagues — everybody wants to know.”
So Vosshall set out to find the answer.
The study, which included 64 participants, concluded that a person’s body odor plays a big role in determining whether a mosquito is enticed to bite.
A human’s scent profile is constructed of different chemical compounds and after the scientists finished their research, they uncovered a pattern. People with skin that produce greater levels of carboxylic acid were significantly more appealing tomosquitoesthan those that produced less.
The study entailed participants wearing nylon stockings on their arms for six hours to capture their unique scent. The researchers then cut the stockings into pieces and put them into containers with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The insects then migrated to a scent — or didn’t.
The study also revealed that the levels of acid produced didn’t change over time, even if a person’s diet or habits changed. The bad news –– if mosquitoes like you, they’re always going to like you.
“This property of being a mosquito magnet sticks with you for your whole life — which is either good news or bad news, depending on who you are,” Vosshall told the outlet.
Scientists are still working on solving one more mystery –– why do mosquitoes love carboxylic acid so much?
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Maria Elena De Obaldia, a senior scientist at the biotech company Kingdom Supercultures and author of the study, has a hypothesis, though she admits it’s just speculation. De Obalia toldScientific Americanthat since A. aegypti mosquitoes evolved to bite human beings instead of animals, it makes sense that they become highly skilled at determining the difference between humans and animal odors.
Humans emit copious amounts of carboxylic acid when compared to animals and De Obaldia suggests that’s why mosquitoes gravitate to us.
source: people.com
