The smell of success: unravelling human attractiveness to malaria mosquitoes

Summary

Humans differ in attractiveness to malaria mosquitoes. Malaria mosquitoes require a blood meal to lay eggs. Whilst evolutionary theory predicts that mosquitoes will find the most suitable host to achieve the highest reproductive success, it is unknown which selection pressure drives this preference for specific humans. The aim of this thesis was to investigate whether and how the reproductive success of the malaria mosquito Anopheles coluzzii is linked to human attractiveness to mosquitoes of this species. The role of human blood type, skin temperature, blood constituents, skin microbiota and the human immune system on mosquito attraction and reproduction were explored in a study with human participants. Findings suggest that variation in attractiveness to mosquitoes is related to the human immune response and mosquito reproductive success. The results of this thesis help improve our understanding of mosquito attraction and reproduction, which may eventually contribute to new strategies for malaria control.