Episode Details

Mosquitoes are excellent hunters. Anopheles gambiae—the mosquito in sub-Saharan Africa that spreads malaria—in particular loves to feast on humans and, it turns out, relies heavily on peoples’ scent to track them. Hopkins researcher Conor McMeniman talks with Stephanie Desmon about his team’s new study looking at the molecular components of human scent that are most attractive to mosquitoes, and how learning more about these alluring scent signatures could help in the fight against malaria.