2022年10月25日 VOA慢速英語：你的氣味會吸引蚊子

 

A new study finds that some people attract mosquitoes much more than others, and it probably involves the way they smell.
一項新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，有些人比其他人更容易吸引蚊子，這可能與它們的氣味有關(guān)。
 
The researchers found that people who attract mosquitoes the most produce a lot of certain chemicals on their skin. These chemicals are connected to the scent that attracts the mosquitoes.
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，最容易吸引蚊子的人會在皮膚上產(chǎn)生大量特定化學(xué)物質(zhì)。這些化學(xué)物質(zhì)與吸引蚊子的氣味有關(guān)。
 
Leslie Vosshall is one of the authors of the study and a neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York. She said, "If you have high levels of this stuff on your skin, you're going to be the one at the picnic getting all the bites."
Leslie Vosshall 是該研究的作者之一，也是紐約洛克菲勒大學(xué)的神經(jīng)生物學(xué)家。她說：“如果你的皮膚上這種東西含量很高，那么你將成為野餐時被所有叮咬的人。”
 
For many years, there have been a lot of ideas about who is likely to get bitten more. But those ideas have not been supported by strong evidence, Vosshall said.
多年來，關(guān)于誰更容易被咬的問題一直存在很多想法。但這些想法沒有得到強(qiáng)有力的證據(jù)支持，Vosshall 說。
 
For the study, researchers designed an experiment to have people's scents compete against each other.
在這項研究中，研究人員設(shè)計了一個實驗，讓人們的氣味相互競爭。
 
They asked 64 volunteers to wear stockings around their forearms to absorb, or take in, the scent from their skin. The stockings were put in separate traps at the end of a long tube. Then, dozens of mosquitoes were released.
他們要求 64 名志愿者在前臂周圍穿長襪，以吸收或吸收皮膚上的氣味。長筒襪被放在長管末端的單獨陷阱中。然后，數(shù)十只蚊子被釋放。
 
The mosquitoes came to some traps much more than others. The scientists did the experiment several times, always changing which stockings were competing against each other. At the end, they discovered a huge difference between stockings. The most attractive stocking was around 100 times more attractive to the mosquitoes than the last-place finisher.
蚊子比其他人更容易進(jìn)入一些陷阱?？茖W(xué)家們做了幾次實驗，總是改變哪些長襪相互競爭。最后，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了絲襪之間的巨大差異。最吸引人的長襪對蚊子的吸引力是最后一名完成者的 100 倍。
 
The experiment used a kind of mosquito that spreads diseases like yellow fever, Zika and dengue. Vosshall said she would expect similar results from other kinds of mosquitoes. But additional research needs to be done to know for sure.
該實驗使用了一種傳播黃熱病、寨卡病毒和登革熱等疾病的蚊子。Vosshall 說，她預(yù)計其他種類的蚊子也會有類似的結(jié)果。但是需要做更多的研究才能確定。
 
By testing the same people for over a year, the study showed that these big differences remain, said Matt DeGennaro, a neurogeneticist at Florida International University. He was not involved in the research.
佛羅里達(dá)國際大學(xué)的神經(jīng)遺傳學(xué)家 Matt DeGennaro 說，通過對同一個人進(jìn)行一年多的測試，研究表明這些巨大的差異仍然存在。他沒有參與這項研究。
 
"Mosquito magnets seem to remain mosquito magnets," DeGennaro said.
“蚊子磁鐵似乎仍然是蚊子磁鐵，”DeGennaro 說。
 
The researchers found a common factor: Mosquito magnets had high levels of certain acids on their skin. People produce them in different amounts, Vosshall said. The healthy bacteria that live on the skin eat up these acids and produce part of the way our skin smells, she said.
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個共同因素：蚊子磁鐵皮膚上的某些酸含量很高。Vosshall 說，人們生產(chǎn)它們的數(shù)量不同。她說，生活在皮膚上的健康細(xì)菌會吃掉這些酸，并產(chǎn)生我們皮膚氣味的一部分。
 
The research could help find new ways to repel mosquitoes, said Jeff Riffell, a neurobiologist at the University of Washington who was not involved with the study. There may be ways to affect the skin bacteria and change the smell that attracts mosquitoes, he said.
沒有參與這項研究的華盛頓大學(xué)神經(jīng)生物學(xué)家 Jeff Riffell 說，這項研究可能有助于找到驅(qū)除蚊子的新方法。他說，可能有一些方法可以影響皮膚細(xì)菌并改變吸引蚊子的氣味。
 
However, he said that would be hard to do. Researchers also did the experiment with mosquitoes whose genes were changed to damage their sense of smell. But they still flew to the same mosquito magnets.
然而，他說這很難做到。研究人員還對基因發(fā)生改變以損害其嗅覺的蚊子進(jìn)行了實驗。但他們?nèi)匀伙w向相同的蚊子磁鐵。
 
Vosshall said mosquitoes have ways to find us even if we change some conditions. "They have many backup plans to be able to find us and bite us," she said.
Vosshall 說，即使我們改變一些條件，蚊子也有辦法找到我們。“他們有很多后備計劃能夠找到我們并咬我們，”她說。