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Spanish Version:

Mosquitos Locos

Hola, soy Patricia Guadalupe con Los Discovery Files, de la Fundación Nacional de Ciencias, N-S-F.

¿Ese sonido te pone nervioso? ¿Listo para aplastar?

¡Esos mosquitos molestos! ¿Por qué algunos les parecemos más apetitosos que otros?

Investigadores financiados por la NSF y liderados por la Universidad de California, San Diego y la Universidad Western Kentucky, están estudiando por qué algunos de estos bichos chupasangre utilizan un método discriminatorio cuando se trata de seleccionar a sus víctimas.

Los investigadores descubrieron que su atracción a ciertos huéspedes probablemente no esté relacionada con las capas más profundas de la piel.

En este estudio, los científicos estudiaron moscas chupasangre que se deleitan con los murciélagos y descubrieron que probablemente éstas eligen sus víctimas al seguir el olor de los químicos que producen algunas bacterias en la piel.

Siguiendo el ejemplo de los mosquitos, las moscas se sienten atraídas por el olor característico del microbioma – una comunidad de bacterias que vive en la piel de las personas.

Estudiar los blancos preferidos de las moscas y los mosquitos nos ayudan a entender mejor las vías de transmisión de enfermedades acarreadas por los mosquitos.

¡Te atrapé!

Descubre cómo la Fundación Nacional de Ciencias está avanzando la investigación científica en N-S-F punto G-O-V.

English Version:

Batty Mosquitoes!

Hi! I'm Mo Barrow with The Discovery Files, from NSF -- the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Does that sound make you nervous -- ready to swat?

Those pesky mosquitoes! Why do they find some of us more appetizing than others?

NSF-funded researchers -- led by the University of California, San Diego and Western Kentucky University are exploring why some blood-sucking bugs discriminate when it comes to selecting their hosts.

They've learned it's likely an attraction that might not even go skin-deep.

In this study, the scientists studied blood-sucking flies that specialize in feasting on bats. They found the flies might be targeting their hosts by following the scent of chemicals produced by bacteria on their skin.

Taking a cue from mosquitoes, the flies are attracted to distinctive microbiomes -- the unique community of bacteria -- living on a person's skin.

Studying the flies' and mosquitoes' preferred targets, helps us better understand the pathways of disease transmission among humans, by -- you got it -- mosquitoes!

Gotcha!

Discover how the U.S. National Science Foundation is advancing research at nsf.gov.

"The discovery files" covers projects funded by the government's National Science Foundation. Federally sponsored research -- brought to you, by you! Learn more at nsf.gov or on our podcast.

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