Why Some Mosquitoes Prefer Humans

Mosquitoes have been called the deadliest animal in the world: tiny creatures so dangerous that genetic engineering may be necessary to win the battle against them. But not all mosquitoes are equally responsible for devastating the human population by spreading disease. Out of thousands of species, only a few like to bite humans. Why do some find us irresistible, while others remain unimpressed?

To answer that question, a team of Princeton researchers – including Carolyn McBride, a 2015 Klingenstein-Simons Neuroscience Fellow – spent three years driving around sub-Saharan Africa collecting the eggs of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are responsible for Zika, yellow fever and dengue.

Read the full article at the New York Times.