According to a new scientific study, mosquitoes have several receptors allowing them to detect human body odors. Promising results which would make it possible to better fight against untimely bites and the deadly diseases which result from them.
By the pool, on the terrace, and even in your house: mosquitoes are everywhere and make you live in hell buzzing in your ears. Worse: bites build up on your body, forcing you to slather on repellents, not always good for the skin. Why are humans the number 1 target of mosquitoes? Response elements.
According to a new scientific study, taken up by TF1 Infomosquitoes would actually be attract by human odors, picked up very precisely by multiple receivers. Published on August 18 in the scientific journal Cellthe text demonstrates that this specificity is unique among mosquitoes.
“What we’ve seen is that different receptors can respond to different odors in the same neuron,” says Meg Younger, an assistant professor of biology at Boston University and one of the study’s lead authors. Unlike other animals, the insect can pick up odors by several different routes, even if one of the olfactory receptors is defective.
The mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world
“The Aedes aegypti mosquito is specialized in biting humans. They are believed to have evolved to do so because humans are always close to fresh water and mosquitoes lay their eggs in fresh water. We are basically the perfect meal, so the will to find humans is extremely strong,” she confirms.
With this discovery, new research could make it possible to better control mosquitoes and above all to limit the diseases which are spread by bites (malaria, dengue, yellow fever). Let’s remember: the mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world, according to 2016 data fromOWD.