Biology

Changing the flavor of humans might thwart mosquitoes

Changing the flavor of humans might thwart mosquitoes
Like most of us, mosquitoes like their meals to smell and taste good
Like most of us, mosquitoes like their meals to smell and taste good
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A female Anopheles gambiae mosquito with olfactory neurons on the antennae, maxillary palp and labella labeled in green.
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A female Anopheles gambiae mosquito with olfactory neurons on the antennae, maxillary palp and labella labeled in green.
Like most of us, mosquitoes like their meals to smell and taste good
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Like most of us, mosquitoes like their meals to smell and taste good

While the zika virus might be grabbing all the headlines these days, malaria continues to hold the dubious honor of being the most deadly vector-borne disease, claiming the lives of more than 400,000 people each year. No cure has been found yet, though scientists have been attempting everything from altering the mosquitoes' sense of smell to rendering them infertile. That said, a recent study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has identified a new approach: changing how humans smell and taste.

In order to find a human host, mosquitoes have to rely on their sense of smell. Female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, in particular, have a strong preference for humans and use olfactory cues to locate and distinguish us from other mammals. But what if scientists could figure out what smells turn them off so that we could change our "flavor" to something less mouthwatering?

To head down that path, the researchers decided to find out what makes mosquitoes' sensory neurons tick. "All mosquitoes, including the one that transmits malaria, use their sense of smell to find a host for a blood meal. Our goal is to let the mosquitoes tell us what smells they find repulsive and use those to keep them from biting us," says Dr. Christopher Potter, an assistant professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Given that their survival depends on their sense of smell, it comes as no surprise that mosquitoes have an intricate sensory system that comprises not one but three pairs of "noses": two antennae, two maxillary palps (the appendages located in the lower region of the mosquito's head) and two labella (neuron-dense regions at the tip of its proboscis).

To understand how the Anopheles gambiae mosquito makes sense of the odors and tastes it encounters, Potter and his colleagues did what they claim no other team had previously done in the field of mosquito research. They targeted the insect's sensory neurons by using a powerful genetic technique that would cause certain neurons, specifically those that receive complex odors through proteins called odorant receptors (ORs), to glow green.

A female Anopheles gambiae mosquito with olfactory neurons on the antennae, maxillary palp and labella labeled in green.
A female Anopheles gambiae mosquito with olfactory neurons on the antennae, maxillary palp and labella labeled in green.

The experiment revealed a surprise: Previously, the subesophageal zone in an insect's brain had only been associated with taste. However, the fact that signals from the OR neurons from the labella were also being sent there suggests that mosquitoes don't just like our smell but our flavor as well, says Dr. Potter. "It's likely that the odorants coming off our skin are picked up by the labella and influence the preferred taste of our skin, especially when the mosquito is looking for a place to bite."

Based on the results of this study, targeting the antennae and maxillary palps, which are used to pick up long-range signals, as well as the labella, which probes the skin before the mosquito bites its victim, could potentially open up new ways of repelling the mosquitoes. "One could target the antennal neurons and reduce the likelihood that they come too close, while another could target the labellar neurons and make the mosquitoes turn away in disgust — before sucking our blood — if they got close enough to land on us," suggests Dr. Potter.

While it is still early days for this project, he hopes that the newly decoded genetic system will make it easier for researchers to generate new traits using genetically altered mosquitoes and see how the neurons respond to different smells and tastes. The goal, he says, is to find an odorant that acts as a strong mosquito repellant at "very low concentrations" while remaining "safe and pleasant-smelling for us."

In addition, he hopes that further studies of the mosquitoes' other neurons will shed light on how their three receptors shape and influence behavior. "We'd like to figure out what regions and neurons in the brain lead to this combined effect. If we can identify them, perhaps we could also stop them from working."

The team's results were published in Nature Communications.

Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine

8 comments
8 comments
guzmanchinky
No mosquitoes would literally change the way I see much of the world, especially the East coast of the US.
ozboy61
Have it in the back of my mind of hearing that mozzies don't like Vitamin B. This was used as a dietary supplement to help avoid a) getting attacked and b) as a poor mans antimalarial idea. There was a claim that eating Vegemite (relevant to us Aussies, due to its high Vit B content) would help deter them. Alternatively, just hang about with women as mozzies apparently like them better than us sorry men.
Nik
I has been discovered that some people can produce their own mosquito repellent. Whilst living in Singapore, I did seem to have produced a repellent, as after the first 2-3 months I very rarely got bitten. While others were normally covered in bites, and got told to 'stop feeding the mozzies, as it only encourages them.' However, if I was 5-10 miles from my normal base, then I got bitten, so it seems that my repellent was only effective on the 'local breed.' The question is, was this due to genetic differences, or just dietary preferences? Either way, it could be a useful starting point for research into a flavour repellent. Even now, in France, my repellent seems to be partially effective, as when my son visits, he gets bitten, frequently , but I dont.
JenniferPage
One Vitamin B6 a day taken for 5 days previous to mosquito country changes skin smell. Definitely works in the Amazon. When kayak rammed clouds of mossies, never a bite. Need to take whilst in country as well. I have a sensitive nose and could smell the B6. Not very Chanel 5. Haven't tried Marmite. Might be better if living in a mozzie country.
Stephen Mann
I've often noticed that my wife and daughter are mosquito magnets. On an evening walk they will have a dozen bites where I won't have any, or at most one.
Thor Gurzman
I thought about this years ago and even talked to a forensic toxicologist about it. The easy and somewhat crude solution is to consume more vinigar as the mosquitos don't like the acetic acid. I wasn't looking at this for malaria, just to keep the little buggers off me when I was in the woods in South Carolina...
Robert in Vancouver
Thankfully there aren't any mosquitoes and almost no other flying insects where I live - White Rock, BC, Canada. Nobody has screens on windows or patio doors here, there's no reason to have them. Nice change compared to where I used to live - Bangkok.
Mattiede
When I was a child my father had significantly less bites than me and my mother - he claimed the Gauloises cigarettes were responsible. I also heard garlic turns them off... might be interesting to get a real scientific study to find out what everyday products really repel mosquitos