Musings on Mosquito Magnets

A new study on what makes some people “mosquito magnets” is making news.  The study indicates that it may have to do with skin odour differences, and the level of carboxylic acid on one’s skin.  The importance of that aside, the reporting makes for interesting reading.

Here’s a thought from the coverage in Scientific American:

If you find yourself covered in more bites than all of your friends, you can take solace in the idea that mosquitoes love your scent profile because it’s so distinctly human.

Here are a couple of statements attributed to one of the authors of the study:

This property of being a mosquito magnet sticks with you for your whole life—which is either good news or bad news, depending on who you are.

Mosquitoes are resilient. They have many backup plans to be able to find us and bite us.