Why are some of us mosquito magnets?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-10-19 02:00

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People who are exceptionally attractive to mosquitoes secrete more carboxylic acids from their skin, according to new research. “Unattractive” individuals didn't have any specific substances in common on their skin, suggesting that they lack mosquito attractants, rather than emitting a shared set of repellents. People’s skin microbiomes remain remarkably stable over time, so there’s good reason to believe that genetics play a factor in a person’s skin acid composition, and in turn, their susceptibility to the bites of these blood-sucking bugs.

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Research Cell Press, Web page

Journal/
conference: Cell

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Rockefeller University

Funder: Additional funding for this study was provided by a Harvey L. Karp Discovery Award and a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship to M.E.D.O.; a Harvey L. Karp Discovery Award and a Japan Society for Promotion of Science Overseas Research Fellowship to T.M.; an NIH-NIAID R25 AI140472 Tri-Institutional Metabolomics Training Program grant to J.R.C.; Q13 L.B.V. is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)

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