Scent of a human: The mosquito olfactory system defies dogma to ensure attraction to humans

Colleen N McLaughlin; Liqun Luo

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.07.018

Scent of a human: The mosquito olfactory system defies dogma to ensure attraction to humans

Cell. 2022 Aug 18;185(17):3079-3081. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.07.018.

Authors

Colleen N McLaughlin¹, Liqun Luo²

Affiliations

¹ Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 35985284
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.07.018

Abstract

Mosquitoes are strongly attracted to humans, and their bites not only cause intense itch but can beget severe diseases. In this issue of Cell, Herre et al. reveal that non-canonical olfactory circuit organization and coding likely endow mosquitoes with a robust ability to locate human hosts.

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MeSH terms

Aedes*
Animals
Anopheles*
Humans
Odorants
Pheromones

Substances

Pheromones