Study explains why some people attract more mosquitoes than others
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In the lab, the experiment with ice paralyzes mosquitoes, proving exactly what we sense in the air: they prefer the heat, breed in summer, and fly after targets.
“We sat there for three minutes. Then some mosquitoes appeared. It itches. They started biting, right?” says student Pedro Froes. “I didn’t feel anything,” says Pedro’s friend.
It’s just that the female who stings to feed the eggs chooses the victims.
“Always! If there’s a mosquito, I’ll be bitten,” complains Pedro. “Not me anymore. It’s very difficult,” says the friend.
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It’s a skin thing: A study by the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior at Rockefeller University in the United States has found what attracts the disease vector Aedes aegypti.
“We all have secretions of different substances on our skin, and those people who are always more attractive to mosquitoes produce higher levels of carboxylic acids than those who are not as attractive or who don’t even attract mosquitoes,” explains Anderson de Sá Nunes, Associate Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at USP.
News reporter: How does this little mosquito know who has the most carboxylic acids?
Anderson from Sat: In the mosquito’s antenna there are some molecules that can detect odors and smell; are recipients. You understand that a person is nearby. This can also happen, for example, with carbon dioxide secretion when breathing, and these mosquitoes then orient themselves and prefer those people who secrete carboxylic acid there and breathe in this region.
The American study, carried out in an olfactometer, a plastic box in which mosquitoes are released, confirmed the preference for the same candidates for months.
News reporter: When you’re around her, you don’t even have to protect yourself too much…
Man: i am calmer I’m generally calmer, the mosquitoes are on top of her for now.
1 of 1 American study was conducted in an olfactometer, a plastic box that mosquitoes are released into — Photo: JN American study was conducted in an olfactometer, a plastic box that mosquitoes are released into — photo: JN
Attracting insects is therefore a physical trait, possibly genetic, that will accompany humans throughout their lives. The studies, conducted over months, showed that volunteers who were preferred or ignored remained so, no matter what they wore, ate or drank. Being a “mosquito magnet” is almost a fate, difficult to change.
news reporter: Can such research prevent the spread of dengue, chikungunya, for example?
Anderson from Sa: Exactly. At the end, at the end, at the top of this research, there is always the hope that it is important information to prevent the very transmission of these diseases.
And until then, the most attractive are allowed to fight.
“I’d rather be less, because today it’s complicated. So around this time,” jokes the woman.