World’s largest ‘scent arena’ reveals bloody preferences of mosquitoes
In the dead of night, 200 bloodthirsty creatures make their way through a tented mesh arena the size of an ice rink. Scientists study them from afar, pumping in air scented with the aroma of human prey. They’re hoping to reveal just what triggers these deadly predators. This isn’t the setup for an upcoming zombie movie. “It’s the world’s largest multichoice smell test for mosquitoes”—a giant experiment to figure out why the deadly insects prefer some people over others, explains study leader Conor McMeniman, a molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins University. The results, he says, could help scientists devise new traps and repellants to help protect people from deadly mosquito-borne diseases. Taking this work out of the lab “really strengthens our understanding of [mosquito] behavior,” says Manuela Carnaghi, an insect behavioral ecologist...