Are You A Mosquito Magnet? The Way You Smell Is The Reason.
If you always get attacked by mosquitoes, chances are you are a "Mosquito Magnet." Yes. This is a real thing at least according to researchers like Leslie Vosshall, a neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York. She was involved in a recent study that looked at whether a person's scent/body odor made them a target for these pesky little blood-suckers. Results from the study revealed the answer is a resounding hell yeah!
They managed to get 64 volunteers to help out with the study, where university researchers had them wear nylon stockings around their forearms to lock in their skin odor. The stockings were placed at the end of a long tube, and dozens of mosquitos were released.
Lo and behold all the mosquitos flocked the stocking with the most odor! That's not to say it is a bad odor, but it is to say people who have skin that produces high levels of carboxylic acid levels are very attractive to mosquitoes because their skin gives off a scent that these incents are wild about. Thanks to this new study now know for sure mosquito magnetism is a real thing. To learn more about the research and details about the experiment, the info was published in the scientific journal Cell on Tuesday, October 18, 2022.