Are you a mosquito magnet? It could be your smell

NEW YORK (AP) — A new study finds that some people really are “mosquito magnets,” and it likely has to do with the way they smell.

The researchers found that people who are most attractive to mosquitoes produce many specific chemicals on their skin that are tied to odors. And bad news for mosquito magnets: The bloodsuckers stay loyal to their darlings in the long run.

“If you have a lot of this stuff on your skin, you’re going to be the one eating all the bites at the picnic,” said study author Leslie Vosshall, a neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York.

There’s a lot of folklore about who gets bitten more often, but many claims aren’t backed by strong evidence, Vosshall said.

To put mosquito magnetism to the test, the researchers designed an experiment that pitted people’s scents against each other, study author Maria Elena De Obaldia explained. Their findings were published in the journal Cell on Tuesday.

They asked 64 volunteers from the university and the local area to wear nylon stockings around their forearms to absorb their skin odors. The stockings were placed in separate traps at the end of a long tube, then dozens of mosquitoes were released.

“They would basically rave about the most attractive subjects,” De Obaldia said. “It became very clear right away.”

Scientists held a round-robin tournament and discovered a striking gap: the largest mosquito magnet was around 100 times more attractive to mosquitoes than the last-placed.

The experiment used the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads diseases such as yellow fever, Zika and dengue fever. Vosshall said she would expect similar results from other species but needed more research to confirm this.

By testing the same people over multiple years, the study showed that these large differences persist, said Matt DeGennaro, a neurogeneticist at Florida International University who was not involved with the research.

“Mosquito magnets seem to stay mosquito magnets,” DeGennaro said.

Among the favorites, the researchers found a common factor: mosquito magnets had high levels of certain acids on their skin. These “fatty molecules” are part of the skin’s natural moisture barrier, and people produce them in varying amounts, Vosshall said. The healthy bacteria that live on the skin eat up these acids and produce part of our skin’s odor profile, she said.

You can’t get rid of these acids without also damaging your skin health, said Vosshall, who is paid by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and serves as its chief scientific officer. The institute also supports the health and science divisions of The Associated Press.

But the research could help find new ways to repel mosquitoes, said Jeff Riffell, a neurobiologist at the University of Washington who wasn’t involved with the study. There could be ways to tinker with skin bacteria and alter people’s enticing smells, he said.

Still, finding ways to repel mosquitoes isn’t easy, Riffell said, since the critters have evolved into “sleek, mean-spirited biting machines.”

The study proved this point: The researchers also ran the experiment on mosquitoes whose genes had been edited to damage their sense of smell. The bugs still flocked to the same mosquito magnets.

“Mosquitoes are resilient,” Vosshall said. “They have many backup plans to be able to find and bite us.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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