Researchers at Vanderbilt University have identified a new family of odor receptors that mosquitoes use to locate their prey. Their discovery could help explain the puzzling mechanisms behind the mosquito’s sense of smell. Funded by NIAID, the study was published in the journal PLoS Biology in August 2010.
Mosquitoes’ olfactory system is crucial for their survival but poorly understood. A team led by Vanderbilt’s Laurence Zweibel, Ph.D., found differences between two sets of odor receptors in mosquitoes, which could help explain how they are attracted to human odors. Such knowledge may lead to new ways to repel mosquitoes that spread infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue, and West Nile virus.
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/vector/Pages/mosquitoeOdorSensor.aspx.
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