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A new study finds that some people attract mosquitoes much more than others, and it probably involves the way they smell.
一项新研究发现，有些人比其他人更容易吸引蚊子，这可能与他们的气味有关。
The researchers found that people who attract mosquitoes the most produce a lot of certain chemicals on their skin.
研究人员发现，最容易吸引蚊子的人会在皮肤上产生大量特定的化学物质。
These chemicals are connected to the scent that attracts the mosquitoes.
这些化学物质与吸引蚊子的气味有关。
Leslie Vosshall is one of the authors of the study and a neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York.
莱斯利·沃斯希尔是这项研究的作者之一，也是纽约洛克菲勒大学的神经生物学家。
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.”
她说：“如果你皮肤上的这种物质含量很高，你就会成为野餐时被咬的那个人。”
For many years, there have been a lot of ideas about who is likely to get bitten more.
多年来，关于谁更容易被蚊子咬一直有很多说法。
But those ideas have not been supported by strong evidence, Vosshall said.
但沃斯希尔说，这些说法没有强有力的证据支持。
For the study, researchers designed an experiment to have people’s scents compete against each other.
在这项研究中，研究人员设计了一个实验，让人们的气味相互竞争。
They asked 64 volunteers to wear stockings around their forearms to absorb, or take in, the scent from their skin.
他们让64名志愿者在前臂上套上长袜，以吸收他们皮肤上的气味。
The stockings were put in separate traps at the end of a long tube.
这些长袜被放在长管末端的不同的陷阱里。
Then, dozens of mosquitoes were released.
然后，数十只蚊子被释放。
The mosquitoes came to some traps much more than others.
有些陷阱的蚊子数量比其他陷阱的多。
The scientists did the experiment several times, always changing which stockings were competing against each other.
科学家做了几次实验，总是改变相互竞争的长袜。
At the end, they discovered a huge difference between stockings.
最后，他们发现了长袜之间的巨大差异。
The most attractive stocking was around 100 times more attractive to the mosquitoes than the last-place finisher.
最吸引蚊子的长袜对蚊子的吸引力大约是最不吸引蚊子的长袜的100倍。
The experiment used a kind of mosquito that spreads diseases like yellow fever, Zika and dengue.
该实验使用了一种传播黄热病、寨卡病毒和登革热等疾病的蚊子。
Vosshall said she would expect similar results from other kinds of mosquitoes.
沃斯希尔说，她预计其他种类的蚊子也会有类似的结果。
But additional research needs to be done to know for sure.
但需要做更多的研究才能确定这一点。
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.
佛罗里达国际大学的神经遗传学家马特·德格纳罗说，通过对相同的人进行多年的测试，该研究表明这些巨大的差异仍然存在。
He was not involved in the research.
他没有参与这项研究。
“Mosquito magnets seem to remain mosquito magnets,” DeGennaro said.
德格纳罗说：“吸引蚊子的人似乎仍然是吸引蚊子的人”。
The researchers found a common factor: Mosquito magnets had high levels of certain acids on their skin.
研究人员发现了一个共同的因素：这些吸引蚊子的人的皮肤上某些酸性物质的含量很高。
People produce them in different amounts, Vosshall said.
沃斯希尔说，人们产生它们的数量不同。
The healthy bacteria that live on the skin eat up these acids and produce part of the way our skin smells, she said.
她说，生活在皮肤上的健康细菌会吞噬这些酸性物质，并使我们的皮肤产生一些气味。
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.
华盛顿大学的神经生物学家杰夫·里菲尔没有参与这项研究，他说，这项研究可能有助于找到驱赶蚊子的新方法。
There may be ways to affect the skin bacteria and change the smell that attracts mosquitoes, he said.
他说，可能会有一些方法可以影响皮肤细菌，改变吸引蚊子的气味。
However, he said that would be hard to do.
然而，他表示，这很难做到。
Researchers also did the experiment with mosquitoes whose genes were changed to damage their sense of smell.
研究人员还对蚊子进行了实验，他们改变了蚊子的基因，以破坏它们的嗅觉。
But they still flew to the same mosquito magnets.
但它们还是飞向了同一批吸引蚊子的人。
Vosshall said mosquitoes have ways to find us even if we change some conditions.
沃斯希尔说，即使我们改变了一些条件，蚊子也有办法找到我们。
“They have many backup plans to be able to find us and bite us,” she said.
她说：“它们有很多备用计划，能够找到我们并咬我们”。
I’m Andrew Smith.
安德鲁·史密斯为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
