Are you a mosquito magnet? Here’s why that may be.
One of the many downsides to the predicted wetter-than-normal summer in eastern Australia is the likely population boom in hard-to-love insect life, in particular, mosquitoes.
Even if the buzzy blighters don’t infect you with something nasty, such as Japanese encephalitis or malaria, the itchy bites and unsightly lumps are unwelcome guests at most backyard BBQs and family picnics.
To make things worse, mosquitoes, we now discover, are not equal-opportunity bloodsuckers. As fans of anecdotal evidence have long suspected, some folks are “mosquito magnets” while others prove to be less attractive targets for these winged menaces.
We have scientists at New York’s Rockefeller University to thank for now providing some actual science that backs up the popular belief that some unfortunate people are going to be slapping and cursing their way through the warmer months more than most.
Their research, published this week in the journal, Cell, suggests it’s largely a matter of what you smell like.
In particular, the researchers found that people who are most attractive to mosquitoes are those who produce more of certain chemicals, called carboxylic acids, on their skin.
Healthy bacteria that live on the skin eat these acids and produce part of the skin’s odour profile.
The link between elevated carboxylic acids in “mosquito-magnet” human skin odour and phenotypes of genetic mutations in carboxylic acid receptors suggested that such compounds contributed to differential mosquito attraction, the study authors said.
These “greasy molecules” were part of the skin’s natural moisturising layer, and people produced them in different amounts, study author neurobiologist Leslie Vosshall told media.
“If you have high levels of this stuff on your skin, you’re going to be the one at the picnic getting all the bites,” she said.
What’s more, the gap between the magnets and luckier folks can be huge, with the researchers finding the magnets were around 100 times more attractive to the mosquitoes than the least attractive.
And the news doesn’t get any better for mosquito magnets. Not only did the researchers discover that mosquitoes “stayed loyal” to the folks they liked the smell of, trying to get rid of these acids can be damaging to the skin’s health.
On a brighter note, however, the boffins did offer some solace. By discovering exactly what it is that attracts the mosquitoes they have made it easier for the repellent industry to develop more effective methods for keeping the pests at bay.
Can’t happen soon enough.
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