Search


	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		Taking advantage of a crack in the mosquito's olfactory system
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:03
	Publish Date:		2016-10-18 19:00:00
	Description:		In recent months, we’ve learned a lot about mosquitoes due to the spread of the Zika virus. For one thing, they have an incredibly sensitive olfactory system. Entomologist Anandsankar Ray of the University of California, Riverside explains that when we exhale carbon dioxide, it gets carried downwind in the shape of plumes that can travel quite a distance. "And the mosquito, when it comes across one such plume, it starts flying upwind tracking these plumes moving closer and closer towards us. And when it’s really close, it picks up on other odors that we emit from our skin and recognizes that “oh, this is a human being that is going to be a source of blood and makes a beeline for us.” But there is a crack in their olfactory armor that Ray and his colleagues are taking advantage of; it’s so sensitive that they can interfere with the system using simple, natural molecules to disrupt how they hone in on us.
	Total Play:		0