Always attracting mosquitoes? There’s actually a reason for that

Ever wondered why mosquitoes LOVE you? A new study has revealed why mozzies prefer chasing certain people over others…

If you’ve ever suspected mosquitoes tend to bite you more than those around you, science may have an answer as to why. Sky News has reported on a groundbreaking new study which explored whether some people are just mosquito magnets.

A new study has revealed that people with “greasy molecules” on their skin get bitten by mozzies more often than those who don’t. Apparently these people emit a certain smell that attracts the tiny terrorists. However, preventing mosquito bites is still an elusive fete for science.

According to the study, those who are more attractive to mosquitoes produce more of certain chemicals that emit smells on the skin.

WHEN MOSQUITOES JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF YOU

Mozzies tend to keep biting the same people for life, because of this, the study finds. Once you’ve become attractive to them, you can pretty much expect that to be your lot in life.

To prove this theory, researchers designed an experiment where they compared different scents emitted by human skin. The researchers asked 64 volunteers to wear nylon stockings on their forearms to sample the scent of their skin.

These were then put into separate traps before dozens of mosquitoes were released. The results confirmed that these smelly chemicals attract more of the creatures.

ALSO READ: SANParks issues message ahead of snake season in SA

DUCKING THE BITE

Although avoiding mosquito bites remains an unsolved problem, scientists are finding ways to make their bites less dangerous to humans. Tech billionaire, Bill Gates’s publication, Gates Notes, recently reported on how some scientists may have found a solution.

A laboratory in Columbia is breeding up to 40 million mosquitoes a week and releasing them into the wild. Far from being as scary as that sounds, the report assures, these bugs are engineered to carry a bacteria that wipes out dangerous diseases in other mosquitoes.

That might sound like the origin story of a Marvel superhero, but according to the report, its helping save millions of lives. These bugs mate with mosquitoes that carry deadly diseases such as zika, malaria and dengue fever, spreading the good bacteria in the process.

By: Simnikiwe Hlatshaneni