Are you a mosquito magnet? It could be your smell

According to a new study, some people aremosquito magnets because of their smell.

People who are most attractive to mosquitoes produce a lot of chemicals on their skin that smell. Good news for mosquito magnets, the bloodsuckers stay loyal to their favorites over time.

"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," said the study author.

There's a lot of folklore about who gets bitten more but it's not always proven.

Maria Elena De Obaldia explained that the experiment was designed to see if mosquito magnetism would work. The journal Cell contains their findings.

Volunteers were asked to wear nylon stockings around their forearms to pick up their skin smells. Dozens of mosquitoes were released after the stockings were placed in separate traps.

They would swarm to the most attractive subjects. Right away, it became clear.

The biggest mosquito magnet was more attractive to the mosquitoes than the last place winner.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is known to spread diseases. She would need more research to confirm the results from other types.

By testing the same people over multiple years, the study showed that the big differences stay the same.

Mosquito magnets seem to stay mosquito magnets.

The researchers found that the mosquitoes had high levels of acids on their skin. People producegreasy molecule in different amounts and they are part of the skin's natural moisturizing layer. She said that the healthybacteria that live on the skin eat up the acids that make up our skin's odor.

The chief scientific officer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute said that you can't get rid of acids without damaging your skin. The institute supports The AP's health and science department.

Jeff Riffell, a neurobiologist at the University of Washington who was not involved with the study, said it could help find new ways to repel mosquitoes. He said there could be ways to change the smell of humans.

The mosquitoes have evolved to be mean biting machines so figuring out ways to fight them isn't easy.

The researchers did an experiment with mosquitoes whose genes were altered to lose their sense of smell. The mosquitoes were still attracted to the same magnets.

"Mosquitoes are able to bounce back in times of trouble," he said. They have a lot of backup plans in place to bite us.

More information: Maria Elena De Obaldia et al, Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels, Cell (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.09.034 Journal information: Cell

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