Are you a mosquito magnet? It could be your smell

Have you ever noticed that some people tend to get more mosquito bites than others? Have you ever wondered why? A new study suggests smell might be the differentiating factor. 

The study by researchers at Rockefeller University in New York found that individuals who have higher levels of certain acids on their skin are more likely to attract the female Aedes aegypti, the type of mosquito that spreads diseases such as Zika, dengue, and yellow fever. 

Researchers claim that the results of the study, which was published on Tuesday in the journal Cell, could lead to the creation of new products that can alter or mask certain smells to repel mosquitoes and prevent the spread of diseases. 

To confirm the findings, researchers collected the natural scent from people’s skin by having them wear nylon stockings on their arms. Researchers then cut the stockings into smaller pieces and set them behind separate trap doors inside a clear plastic box with dozens of mosquitoes.

Researchers opened the trap doors and waited to see which stockings the mosquitoes preferred. They conducted the experiment over and over again for three years. 

One of the samples that turned out to be the most popular with the insect was from a person who had higher levels of a compound called carboxylic acid on their skin. 

While the study didn’t answer why some people have more carboxylic acid on their skin than others, it let them identify which smell appealed to mosquitoes. 

Unfortunately for people who emit more carboxylic acid, it is not something you can change or cover up with perfume. 

“If you’re a mosquito magnet today, you will be a mosquito magnet three years from now,” said the lead researcher behind the study and chief scientific officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Leslie Vosshall.