Meg Younger, Ph.D.

Research

My lab will explore whether mosquitoes are more attracted to babies than to their parents. Mosquitoes use their keen sense of smell to locate the people on which they feed. But how do mosquitoes reliably detect the telltale scent of humans—particularly when our aromas differ from one another and change during our lifetimes, from infancy through adolescence and into adulthood? The answer may lie in the structure of the mosquito olfactory system, which I discovered differs from that of other organisms: Many mosquito olfactory neurons contain more than one type of smell receptor, an organization that could enable them to detect and potentially integrate complex mixes of odorants. Using an array of cutting-edge techniques in cell and molecular biology, analytical chemistry, neuroimaging, and behavior, I will catalog the chemicals that comprise “new baby smell,” assess whether this mix is more alluring to mosquitoes than the aroma of adults, map which neurons are activated by infant versus adult odors, and disrupt the receptors that draw mosquitoes to bite babies. My work could lead to the development of mosquito repellants that are optimized for children, who are among the most vulnerable to mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria.