To Stop Mosquito Bites, Silence Your Skin's Bacteria | Hacker News Reader

To Stop Mosquito Bites, Silence Your Skin's Bacteria

smithsonianmag.com

76 pointsvmarsy23 comments

TL;DR: Nothing you can do yourself yet. As for what the researchers actually did, this is near the bottom of the article:

> The team placed [dummy targets] inside transparent plastic cages containing 50 mosquitoes and left them in the cages for 15 minutes. They [counted] the number of feeding mosquitoes at each minute.

> The team tested different scenarios, such as placing [targets] treated with either wild-type or mutant bacteria in separate cages, then putting both types of bacteria in the same cage at the same time. When given a choice, “twice as many mosquitoes were attracted to the wild type on the blood feeder rather than the mutant on a blood feeder,” Tomberlin says.

What these "mutant" type bacteria are, is explained a bit earlier:

> The team used a mutant form of S. epidermidis, in which they deleted the genetic mechanism that encodes its quorum sensing system.

And as for the "quorum sensing system", a bit earlier again:

> Bacteria "talk" to one another using a chemical system called quorum sensing.

To expand on your comment, it seems to me that the method by which they tested only gave results for which target they found more attractive. "Silencing your bacteria" would still result in non-zero attractiveness due to other factors such as warmth and CO2. It presumably would therefore not actually repel mosquitoes, and you would still be bitten in the absence of better targets (this is especially true if the other nearby targets used the same approach).

What is up with all the encryption and hacking talk in this article?

"mosquitoes can also hack into bacterial communication systems using chemoreceptors on their antennae, rather like World War II code-breakers intercepting an encrypted transmission"

Is it just to mundane to say mosquitos can smell using chemoreceptors on their antennae, rather like you smelling with your nose?

That bothered me too, and seems like a bad analogy on top of it all. It presented the idea of an arms race between the bacteria and mosquitoes. Is there actually evidence that bacteria have altered their quorum sensing mechanism due to mosquitoes sensing it as well?

I think the author is saying that there is something beyond the message. The quoted scientist use this analogy too.

> The team used a mutant form of S. epidermidis, in which they deleted the genetic mechanism that encodes its quorum sensing system.

This suggests that there is an message chemical and some other obscuring chemical and that the mosquito sensors can be independently tuned to this obscuring chemical.

With our ever-increasing knowledge of the importance of our friendly microbiome, does shutting down their communication system really sound like a good, probably-no-side-effects kind of idea?

Anecdotally, I'm experimenting with not showering[1] and I've noticed that this mosquito season in Dallas, TX I've been getting bit about a tenth of what I usually would (I'm typically the person that sits out with a group of people and is the only person getting bit), while increasing the time I spend outside.

I'd read that shampoo washes off the healthy cultures of bacteria that would otherwise live on your skin, but won't make any further logical leaps - it could be that I'm just not itching them as much as I usually would.

1. At least not with shampoo - I'll still rinse off if I get dirt or oil on my skin. It's also done wonderful things for my hair.

I just hope you do not stink. :) Another note: perhaps you could only clean your underarms to reduce the (possible) smell and leave everything else intact (if you do not hang around your arms raised, that should be a good strategy).

Full disclosure: I actually do use the same strategy, just put soap/shampoo on the smelly parts (and hair in my case as I do not stand oily hair) and leave everything else untouched. As for anecdotal proof, I do get less bites as the rest of the family.

Anecdotally, when I'm on a very-low-carb diet (and in confirmed mild ketosis), mosquitoes seem less interested in me.

There was a study back in 2009 suggesting higher ketone levels in sweat act as a natural mosquito repellant, but that state could be changing microbiome balance/chemistry, too – so there are multiple possible mechanisms.

So, Garlic is antibiotic and antifungal. Go for it.

Could washing work too, to rid yourself of the bacteria?

The occasional spray of DEET is working for me this summer...

I tried various natural and chemical (i.e. DEET) repellents when I was in SE Asia and nothing kept them off me :( One time I checked into a hotel and the staff weren't particularly happy that a swarm of around 10 mosquitos followed me in...

Being immersed in lake or river water attracts mosquitoes, although I've never understood why. Washing it off also reduces the attraction.

Maybe the coolness of the evaporating water is bringing your blood to the surface?

Or bacteria/other factors are aerosolized as the water evaporates?

completely randome guess, but they lay eggs in stagnant water, perhaps the smell of the lake water reminds them of that?

But it may also mess with pheromones. You might end up with an incompatible partner.

Historically, didn't we use things like hippo fat and secretions of various flowering plants to ward off the mosquito? I wonder how those things compare with this mutant bacteria approach.

Despite these frequent, optimistic scientific articles, in a lifetime of struggling with mosquitos I've found the only completely effective way to avoid all bites is: to move to a desert.

I wonder if there's any impact on ticks. Those are far more concerning to me than mosquitos.

garlic works... but then you stink like garlic.

i just spray myself with some deep off woods repellant

Is there an API for this? O/w, obt HN?

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