Study finds that some people are actually ‘mosquito magnets’ | energy and science

“If you have high levels of this stuff on your skin, you’re the one getting all the stings on the picnic.” Tell ScienceDaily The study’s lead author, Leslie Fochal, a neuroscientist at The Rockefeller University in New York.

The researchers designed an experiment that made people’s scents contrast with each other. Their findings were published on Tuesday (1) in magazine prison cell. They asked 64 volunteers from and around the university to wear nylon stockings around their forearms to catch the scent of their skin. The socks were placed in separate traps at the end of a long tube, then dozens of mosquitoes were released.

“They basically clustered around the most attractive,” the researcher said. to the Guardian. “So the truth became very clear immediately,” he added.

Scientists held a “championship” and ended up with a startling discovery: the largest “mosquito magnet” was 100 times more attractive to mosquitoes than the last one. The experiment used mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, which transmits diseases such as yellow fever, Zika and dengue fever. Fossall said he expects similar results from other species, but will need more research to confirm.

By testing the same people over several years, the study showed that these significant differences persist. Among the favorites, the researchers found a common factor: Mosquito magnets contain high levels of certain acids in the skin. These “lipid molecules” are part of the skin’s natural moisturizing layer, and people produce them in varying amounts, Fossall said. It concluded that the healthy bacteria that live on the skin eat these acids and produce part of the skin’s odor.