Those Pesky Mosquitoes
Those Pesky Mosquitoes, why do mosquitoes attack some people and are not attracted by others? The answer lies in different microbiota (flora) compositions of skins, according to a recent study of the malaria mosquito.
The sweat from our skin would be odourless if it were not processed by the many different resident bacteria. The combined action of dozens of species of bacteria is what creates the personal odour of each individual. Anopheles gambiae is the mosquito responsible for transmitting malaria, which causes thousands of deaths each year. Researchers have demonstrated that this mosquito is more attracted to skins with more abundant bacteria but with low species diversity. This line of research, which explains why mosquitoes bite some people and not others, could be the key to the manufacture of anti-mosquito traps or drugs.