It is not a feeling. Mosquitoes bite some people more than others and it is not known why this happens. So far, because a new study has investigated this problem and would finally find out why.
The research, conducted by scientists from the Rockefeller University in New YorkUnited States, found that some people are more attractive to mosquitoes basically because they produce high levels of some acids in the skin.
“This research could help discover new ways to repel mosquitoesNotes neurobiologist and lead author of the study, Leslie Vosshall.
However, the team of researchers goes one step further and is now looking for ways to “play with bacteria on the skin” and change the scents of human beings.
“If you have high levels of these substances in your skin, you’ll be the one to have all the itches at the picnic. There is a lot of folklore about who attracts insects the most and why, ”says Vosshall.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers asked 64 volunteers to wear nylon stockings around their forearms. to collect odors from your skin.
These socks were then placed in separate traps at the end of a long tube and thousands of mosquitoes were released.
“Curiously, most mosquitoes went into some traps with some socks in particular, while hardly any mosquitoes entered other traps,” they said.
At the end of the experiment, the largest insect magnet was about 100 times more attractive for mosquitoes than the trap it had attracted the least.
The study continued for some years. during which the scientists continued to test the volunteers and to see if they continued to attract the same number of mosquitoes.
Researchers clarify that these fat molecules are part of it the natural moisturizing layer of the skin and people produce them in different quantities.
That way, if you get bitten a little by mosquitoes at the moment, they will continue to sting you like that for the rest of your days due to the acids that are produced in the skin.
With this experiment, researchers could end up discovering new ways to fight mosquitoes, perhaps with new repellents that people can put on their skin.
Source: ScienceAlert
Source: Clarin
