I cannot argue that headline. Mosquitoes definitely prefer me to other people. There can be hundreds, nay, thousands of people, and I will always look like the one who has just emerged from some tropical jungle. Why is this? Why am I the one who always sits scratching my ankles and wrists?

Well, according to a new paper written by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine there’s a genetic component that makes some people taste better than others (to mozzies, at least). I guess that makes me the chocolate fudge sundae smothered in vanilla bean ice cream with sprinkles of the mosquito world…

In the study, scientists compared how attractive sets of twins were to mosquitoes, using groups of identical and fraternal twins. The identical twins were more similarly attractive to mosquitoes than the fraternal twins…

Where does genetics come in? “Identical twins share more genes than fraternal ones” and it’s those genes that determine body odour, which is one of the ways mosquitoes find their targets.

Don’t think this is a silly theory scientists are playing beer pong over. Knowing what attracts the insects to humans is important because it’s those very mozzies that spread diseases like malaria, West Nile virus, chikungunya, and dengue and this research means better insect repellents can be designed.

Here’s a fun fact: only the female mosquitoes hunt and bite, and that’s only if they’ve mated. One would think that would narrow down the amount of mosquitoes out there, which goes to show just how many of the thirsty little blood suckers are actually out there.

Anandasankar Ray, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of California-Riverside explains how they hunt:

Humans exhale about two liters of breath every minute and 4% of it is carbon dioxide. This activates the mosquito, making the insect more sensitive to skin odor. When mosquitoes are only a few meters away from a potential meal, they switch from navigating by carbon dioxide to skin odor — that’s generally when they make a beeline for exposed skin. Humidity and body temperature may play a role as well. Once the pest lands, it tastes the skin of its next meal using hairs on its feet.

When we think of mosquitoes we think of carbon dioxide – the two seem to always land up in the same conversation and equation, and these scientists can also tell you that “people who exhale more [CO2] tend to be more attractive to mosquitoes — so people who’ve been exercising or have larger body masses are pretty appealing targets”.

*Cancels gym contract*

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s tests get pretty intricate, so you can read more about what they did and how they did it HERE.

[Source: The Verge]