Good news! Will we get better repellents? Apparently, we still do not very well understand the complex odor receptors of mosquitoes. The research presented here has taken several years.
Do we need these blood suckers and disease carriers? When will we eradicate these blood suckers? Eradication should be seriously considered!
We should thank the total of 64 human subjects for taking part in this kind of study!
"The team found one target, which they’ve called Subject 33, was much more attractive to the mosquitoes than the others [64 human subjects]. This subject was four times more attractive to the mosquitoes than the next best, and 100 times more attractive than the subject at the bottom of the mosquitoes' hit list. ...
Chemical analysis followed and revealed 50 molecular compounds that were heightened in the skin of the more attractive subjects. One type in particular was produced at much higher levels than less attractive subjects. Called carboxylic acids, these fatty substances help give the skin a distinct odor ..."
Chemical analysis followed and revealed 50 molecular compounds that were heightened in the skin of the more attractive subjects. One type in particular was produced at much higher levels than less attractive subjects. Called carboxylic acids, these fatty substances help give the skin a distinct odor ..."
"... In the three-year study, eight participants were asked to wear nylon stockings over their forearms for six hours a day. They repeated this process on multiple days. Over the next few years, the researchers tested the nylons against each other in all possible pairings through a round-robin style “tournament.” ...
Humans produce mainly two classes of odors that mosquitoes detect with two different sets of odor receptors: Orco and IR receptors. To see if they could engineer mosquitoes unable to spot humans, the researchers created mutants that were missing one or both of the receptors. Orco mutants remained attracted to humans and able to distinguish between mosquito magnets and low attractors, while IR mutants lost their attraction to humans to a varying degree, but still retained the ability to find us. ...
These results complement [other] recent studies, also published in Cell, which revealed the redundancy of Aedes aegypti’s exquisitely complex olfactory system. ..."
Humans produce mainly two classes of odors that mosquitoes detect with two different sets of odor receptors: Orco and IR receptors. To see if they could engineer mosquitoes unable to spot humans, the researchers created mutants that were missing one or both of the receptors. Orco mutants remained attracted to humans and able to distinguish between mosquito magnets and low attractors, while IR mutants lost their attraction to humans to a varying degree, but still retained the ability to find us. ...
These results complement [other] recent studies, also published in Cell, which revealed the redundancy of Aedes aegypti’s exquisitely complex olfactory system. ..."
From the abstract:
"Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested mosquito attraction to human skin odor and identified people who are exceptionally attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes. These differences were stable over several years. Chemical analysis revealed that highly attractive people produce significantly more carboxylic acids in their skin emanations. Mutant mosquitoes lacking the chemosensory co-receptors Ir8a, Ir25a, or Ir76b were severely impaired in attraction to human scent, but retained the ability to differentiate highly and weakly attractive people. The link between elevated carboxylic acids in “mosquito-magnet” human skin odor and phenotypes of genetic mutations in carboxylic acid receptors suggests that such compounds contribute to differential mosquito attraction. Understanding why some humans are more attractive than others provides insights into what skin odorants are most important to the mosquito and could inform the development of more effective repellents."
Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels (open access)
Graphical abstract
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