Why Mosquitoes Bite Some People More Than Others 

As a professional mosquito I can confirm everything is true

“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” Mosquito: *but I...*

The ultimate non toxic mosquito repellant is cloves mixed in ordinary cooking oil. Olive or rapeseed oil. Mix the powdered cloves in oil, let stand for a few days, filter the clove powder out, and apply the oil. Tested and proven in Finnish midsummer with a lot of bloodthisrty mosquitoes. One got as close as one inch from my arm when it got the scent and braked and got away.

From this video, I learned that you can become an expert in any field you love. I didn't knew that there is a dedicated study for mosquitoes.

I can’t believe that dude sticks his hand in the enclosure of mosquitoes to let them bite him, that’s just another level of insanity in my opinion.

Mosquitos be like: “It’s your scent. It's like a drug to me. It's like you're my own personal brand of heroin.” -Edward

Very interesting and correct. My wife grew up in Tanzania and she has never had malaria. Mosquitoes hardly bother her. I lived in Tanzania for 12 years and had malaria at least a dozen times or more. Mosquitoes cannot leave me alone

My mom and I are completely ignored by mosquitoes and we both have chronic illnesses that mess with our body regulation in various ways, including making us barely sweat at all and have cold skin. We always thought that was why we never get bitten even when my dad and sister are attacked, so the scientist making note to rub your hands together to stimulate warmth/oils on your skin really stood out to me

I’ve always hated the fact that mosquitoes bite you not for food, but to MAKE MORE MOSQUITOES

Girl : You are not attractive Me : I am Girl : To whom? Me : It's complicated

Years ago, I took my family and my brothers family on a camping trip to Fire Island one summer. Out of 8 of us all but my 2nd son Calvin was eaten alive by mosquitos. Calvin had 2 bite marks at the end of the trip while the rest of us was covered in bite marks. We all ate the same food used the same soaps same gene pool. We still talk about how weird that was when we get together in the summer time.

That explains a lot of things. Also, I react so badly to any bug bites. Like within a minute or two, one mosquito bite can grow to be 4-5 cm wide! It's so itchy, hard and warm to the touch as well.

When I saw that room of mosquitoes I was like: BURN IT DOWN.

ok but can we talk about how that professor literally 'feeds his mosquito himself' for his research and stuff?? that's some next level commitment imagine how he itches everyday;,, i salute this man

Great video, I've always wondered why I get attacked by misquotes so much more than most people. I hate them enough I'm almost willing to move someone different for less of them.

Thanks for putting the results in the description 👍

Whenever you're depressed because nobody seems to like you, remember you're attractive to mosquitoes.

I get bitten so often. Most of the time, anyone who's with me aren't even aware that there's a mosquito around because I'm the only one who's getting bitten. They won't even believe me sometimes ☹

I love how you scientifically review and nuanciate study results. So many content creators just jump on any weird result they see and act as if it's the uncontested truth.

Mosquitoes bite me more than anyone I know... and I am pretty allergic to them. Even wearing OFF, they circle around me in a big cloud while ignoring my family. When they bite me, I get huge welts that take a couple of weeks to heal.. Usually I scratch so much I end up with scabs all over the place. :(

I have an unhealthy urges to bring my 10.000 watt mosquito racquet to this lab

this guy literally sticks his arm in there to feed them mosquitoes just so he can study the dam things.. this is the highest level of dedication ive ever seen

I could be around people that say they get attacked often by mosquitoes but when I'm around they only attack me.

Well, this is a video i certainly enjoyed! Keep up your content, i liked this one!

I hate mosquitoes with a passion. I can't go outside for 5 minutes without being bitten. As an example, my dad and sister were outside for an hour working on gutter cleaning. Neither were bitten. I stepped outside for 5 minutes (not exaggerating)... 4 or 5 bites. Example two, my brother and I were outside standing in place next to each other for 15 minutes. In that time, I was bitten exactly 9 times and my brother only once.

“They are the most dangerous animal in the world.” He says this as he continues to feed and breed them himself.

This makes sense to me now, a lot of people i know have to use bug repellent or avoid going some places bc they get bit too much, meanwhile i never really had a problem with mosquitoes and only recounted like 3 or 4 times in my life ive ever actually been bitten.

wow the way you easily agree to get bitten by mosquitoes while i fight for my life to free myself from getting bitten because for some reason they always seem to want to bite me

1:13 "I'm getting about 25 bites now" Is this man a hero or a psychopath?

*"Man, you are attractive!"* "Really?!" "I mean, sorry- I. You are a strong attractant to mosquitoes."

Great Video! We all learned something today.

Super cool breakdown.

I used to be attracted to mosquitoes, But I switched over to being attracted to humans a few months ago, and so far it's been a bit rough.

The thing that really gets me about mosquitos is when you're trying to sleep and they are flying around your ears making that buzzing sound. Anyone else really despise this sound? It's worse than nails on a chalkboard for me as it is usually accompanied by a bite to add insult to injury. You're always just waiting, mortified and annoyed by the occasional buzzzzzzzzzzzz.

So good to know, I have suffered for more than 60 years until I moved to a dry climate I have been fodder for so many mosquitoes full of white scars

Can you pls do an experiment if sounds have effects to mosquitos? Will it repel them or attract them? So that we can really know what is going on? Thank you. This is a great video btw. :)

My main problem with mosquitos isn't that they bite me more than everyone else, it's the fact that they constantly go “Kamikaze” straight in my eyes and ears. Absolutely unbearable!

There are 27 mosquitoes in Your vicinity, that want to hook up. ( 1 bite stand )

I heard the story about blood sugar. I'm more interested if that has anything to do with blood types. I rarely get bitten, but I also dress head-to-toe in the wilderness because I hate getting bitten. If there was a specific gene instead associated with lower bite rates it would be most interesting if it can be somehow shared with more bite-prone people to override theirs. Then again, mosquitoes would probably just adapt to that, little death machines that they are.

This past Father’s Day I was with my daughters family. All three of them were getting bit and had major reactions and swelling. I on the other hand didn’t have a single mosquito buzz my area or bite me. I didn’t even know mosquitoes were out, while they were swatting and shooing them away. Call me blessed.

If this professor was a Marvel or DC character, He would eventually turn into a supervillain called Mosquito Man with mosquito like abilities. Lol

I hate mosquitos, but that blue species is rather exotic!

When I was younger I learned that when they design deodorants and perfumes, they test them on mosquitos, as mosquitos are attracted to pheromones. I'm just curious if this variable was considered in these studies? Maybe this genetic sequence has something to do with our bodies' pheromones? Or simply the soaps and perfumes we use?

Omg I would've been perfect for this research, I'm an identical twin, I live in New mexico and mosquitos loove me 🦟 ❤️

Literally spent 10 minutes trying to kill a mosquito, then gave up and got recommended this video lol

The only harem I could ever hope to achieve

Evaluation is amazing

Amazing! My husband is extremely attractive to mosquitos and, to my knowledge, I have been bitten only a handful of times in my 60-plus years of life. We have frequently joked that he is much sweeter than me. Very satisfying to understand the scientific explanation.

Note to self: Don't watch mosquito videos while eating Cup Noodles. That larvae shot hit different.

My dad would say because I haven't taken a shower. Now I can tell him it's his fault 🤣

I always heard it was more likely to attract them if you ate bananas or drank alcohol since they smell it in your breath. Also, if you are Type O blood for some reason (can't remember if rh factor is a factor as well). Supposedly, the smell of garlic and citrus tends to keep them away.

Diet is also a huge influence. This was demonstrated decades ago. In particular, taking Thiamine increases your immunity to mosquitoes and eating candy and processed foods makes you more vulnerable.

I'm that guy in my family. At first I was annoyed but eventually I realized it was a noble quest. So I let myself be the bait, let them come near, and zap those suckers with my mosquito racket.

I have an immense urge to break into this facility and do a LOT of squashing.

Craziest video I've seen on mosquito. Mind blown.

I always thought mosquito’s were more attracted to some people than others because I tended to have less bites than others or often wouldn’t get bites when many others did or when many mosquitos were around. Not that I never get big, but it seems to be a lot less frequently than others.

I'm already imagining a true mosquito-pocalypse where only the humans with the right genes are able to avoid being bitten to death.

does anyone else have a "spidey sense" for mosquitoes? Like feeling their presence in the air as an itchy tingle. I feel like a crazy person but its real lol

I have thalassemia trait, and i barely ever get bitten by mosquitoes. And when i do, i dont get bitten again for a long time. I remember going to Venezuela, and we camped outside, we were sleeping in a tent, but my dad (who doesn’t have thalassemia trait) decided he wanted to sleep outside in the hammock. Next morning you couldn’t even see his arm, he was COVERED in bites.

Wow! This ia very informative

I don’t need any test. Mosquitoes absolutely LOVE me !!! They actually ring my doorbell & ask for me.

I’m disappointed that Mosquito-Man was not half-mosquito

Thanks for the sharing this is very true

I've always been a magnet. I could not go out in the evening with bare ankles or wrist and repellent. Since discovering I have a histamine intolerance I've hardly had any bites this year. My diet has changed significantly and I'm taking anti-histamine and pro-biotics daily. The difference is incredible and I was not expecting it. I've been bitten maybe ten times this year but would normally be bitten 10 times a day. Purely anecdotal of course, but a striking difference.

O god, that mosquito noise when you're wearing earphones !!!

Always found it curious that I never got bit by mosquitoes while living in South East Asia. Nearly everyone of my friends had dengue fever at some point, I managed to avoid it. I wasn’t sure if I just didn’t have an allergic reaction to the bites, so I couldn’t see them.

I have read for years that by gentically modifying certain strains of mosquitos they could be rendered extinct. Sounds like a good idea whose time has come. Anybody know if that has been done? And if so, why are we still tormented by those buzzing vampires?

Very interesting.Thank You

*Accidently knocks over mosquito chambers* Me: Light speed

I don't need to take a "test" to show how much of a "mosquito magnet" I am. I see it all Summer long, EVERYDAY, EVERY SUMMER!

From a young age I’ve always been scared of staying out at night due to the amount of mosquitoes I attract, now I finally get to find out why😅🎉

When I visited Cuba some years ago, my sister and my friend returned home with about half a dozen of mosquito bites each. I had more than 40 bites on me, even after spraying myself with that horrible sticky and smelly insect repellant for a whole week! They even bit me under the fabric. 😫

Btw those shots of mosquitoes biting are on my arm (except for the exotic species)

I don't mind if mosquitoes bite. At least someone is attracted to me.

I'd like to see these tests done again today. I remember watching this way back when and I've always been the one to never get bit and stuff. Here in the last year or so I've noticed that not be the case anymore, and I'm curious to how much the mosquitos have adapted in recent years, because not just that but now swatting to kill one feels like trying to swat a fly 😅. Like these things have definitely gotten faster and changing a lot it seems.

I've always been the person mosquitoes prefer. If I'm in the backyard with my friends, the mosquitoes will ignore my friends and come to me. It's agony

I just wanna burn that whole room down. lol

Yes, I have the universal blood type that gravitates mosquitoes. Although I hadn't been annoyed by any when I first moved here while sitting out at night, here lately I had. So now I keep an insect lamp and several hat/face nets on hand if sitting out, especially at night.

I have von Willebrand's disease which is a clotting disorder (poor clotting) and I'm going to be tested for a mitochondrial disorder. I'm super attractive to mosquitoes.

When I say i’m allergic to mosquitoes some ppl say “yeah duh everyone is”. But like they don’t understand. I had two mosquito bites on my thigh when I was like 7 and it swelled up so big i couldn’t walk 💀 Same things happend on my foot, and my arm has once doubled in size from 3 😃 idk why but that’s why I freak out when ever I see one :p

I found after living on a boat and at the mercy of mosquitoes, what you eat makes a huge difference. I completely stopped eating bananas because I found that within an hour of eating a banana the mosquitoes would be all around me. This effect would last a couple of days, slowly waning.

worst experience was when i visited the Baltic Sea once in august and after just one evening i looked like i was suffering the final stages of the bubonic plague. it was so awful i didn't sleep for three days straight because of the itch and pain. as we were sitting outside near the beach i was swarmed by those pesty mosquitoes- i had on a pair of jeans and long sleeves because i knew it and i witnessed the suckers stinging through the jeans and sleeves ...and those weren't gigantic but small malicious black nightmares. this year i was already stung 11 times when i visited a friends garden at noon! when i think of this menace i'm so happy living downtown otherwise summertime would be insufferable every year 😢

Excellent. I've just spent the last 12 minutes itching out of paranoia

My mom told me that the amount of sugar in your blood was what attracted mosquitoes. I got bit like crazy by them as a kid, especially, and the reactions I had were intense. Huge hard red swellings. One on my shin I scratched so much with the heel of my shoe during PE that at some point it became grossly infected. I saved it for a day when I really really wanted to stay home from school....and when I showed it to my mom and my big brother, they were appalled. It had turned green at the center, where the scab started originally, and dark red all around it. I decided it was ripe and crossed my fingers and hoped it would work so I could stay home and watch some classic musicals I was anxious to watch (back then you had to plan these things after looking through the TV guides to see what movies you were dying to see would be televised). Well, I f*cked up and had to go to emergency. But I got a whole week off from school.

Mosquito man was low key jealous that the other was more attractive 😂😂😂😂

I swear I’ve noticed that women usually get bit more than men. I always get bitten but the guys around me don’t (and I’ve noticed a similar trend with my other female friends) and it’s made me wonder if maybe our blood tastes different to them due to hormones (especially during certain parts of our cycle). Idk it’s just a theory, but it seems to ring true to me.

When I was in Girl Scouts, we went to camp and I was the mosquito magnet. I had so many bites I actually got sick. My sister and her friends counted the ones on my face …just my face and I had them all over…and I had 106 just on my face. I was so happy having moved from NY to Utah so I got no bites ..maybe two in 24 years there. My husband none! In Colorado ..I’ve been bitten a few times but my husband zero times!

God, scientists are awesome. It hurt every part of my body to see him stick his hand in that box

Scientist- "Definitely the most dangerous creature on the planet" Also scientist- "Yes I feed them with my own arm"

She looks at him with so much love. Its cute.

I am not sure how attractive I am to mosquitoes, because my body doesn't react to mosquito bites. I used to think mosquitoes didn't bite me at all, until I saw one bite my ankle and I never got a bump or was itchy where I was bitten. I am glad that I don't feel bug bites but the only thing that worries me about it is possibly getting sick from a bug bite and not knowing where the infection came from, or getting misdiagnosed.

I love mosquitoes, I meant they are very supportive when I do sport, like running, they encourage me to run faster when I slow down.

Love that my phone actually listens to my needs and not only my shopping interests

@Vertasium, If someone in my family tree 🌳 in past has had Malaria ; would that make my Genes more sasptable to mosquitoes?

You need to try it with flees. They are also preferring some people. Bad bugs have their preferences too.

Just watching this made me so itchy...

I'm in awe actually at how dedicated this guy is to his studies of them just sticking his arm in the box to feed them. I've always had horrible reactions to mosquito bites they swell up to like 4 times bigger than most peoples and can sometimes be so bad (especially on an area likemy hand or fingers) that the appendage is practically unusable, I'm pretty sure if I stuck my arm in one of those boxes I would have to amputate it

They also love the clothes that I have worn. I use that as a morning trap: I make a pile of my worn stuff in the corner of the bedroom at night and I just smack it in the morning with a book. Usually most escape and a few I find dead in the fabric.

I did 15 years in the navy and had to do a couple tours in Afghanistan. While prepping for tour I was instructed to take these pills once a day everyday for a year to keep from contracting malaria if bitten by a mosquito known as doxycycline. What I found out about malaria was it was mostly common I. Northern Africa. I also found out that most of the people who live in Northern Africa who either have sickle cell anemia, or the trait developed this as an evolutionary defense mechanism to the microbe carried by the mosquito that’s known to cause malaria. So basically, if you have sickle cell, your blood cell shape is not round like healthy cells and instead take on the shape of a sickle, a cutting tool shaped like a crescent moon. Because the blood cell is shaped like a sickle, it isn’t as strong and takes up less surface area compared to a normal healthy blood cell and it also dies off quickly compared to round blood cells as well. The malaria virus when contracted, has a very difficult time entering and reproducing more copies of itself in sickle shaped blood cells due to the lack of rigidity and weakness of the sickled cell thereby making it damn near impossible to be infected by it. I also learned that the hiv virus has a hard time reproducing in sickled blood cells for the same reason thus making a person with sickle cell less likely( but impossible ) to contract certain viral diseases.

The fact that we can tell what each molecule on a strand of dna is (to a point) is wild to me. The way it all works is startlingly similar to code, too. Wild stuff.