简介：
Malarial Mice Smell Better to Mosquitoes
蚊子更好疟疾患者的气味
Mice infected with the parasites that cause their type of malaria produce odorous compounds that attract mosquitoes, increasing the odds that the parasites will be spread to the next victims
因感染寄生虫而患上疟疾的小鼠，体内会产生有特殊气味的化合物，从而更易吸引蚊子，寄生虫也因此更容易传播到下一位患者的身上。
撰文/播音 凯伦• 霍普金（Karen Hopkin）
翻译 朱琳
Getting malaria stinks. Literally. According to a new study, malaria victims give off odors that attracts mosquitoes. And the insects that feed on the infected sufferer are then more likely to spread the disease. The work appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Consuelo M. De Moraes et al,Malaria-induced changes in host odors enhance mosquito attraction]
疟疾是种糟心的病。一项新的研究表明，疟疾患者会散发出一种吸引蚊子的气味，从而使这些以吸食患者血液为生的蚊子更容易传播这种疾病。这项研究刊登在《美国国家科学院院刊》（the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences）上。
Malaria is caused by plasmodium parasites, which are transmitted by mosquitoes. A decade ago, scientists found that Kenyan kids infected with plasmodium were more attractive to mosquitos than were kids who were parasite-free. But they did not know what drew the bloodsuckers to the unfortunate infected children.
疟疾是由蚊子携带的疟原虫引起的。10年前，科学家在肯尼亚发现，感染疟疾的小孩比身上没有寄生虫的孩子更招蚊子喜欢。但他们不知道是什么吸引了这些吸血鬼。
To find out, researchers took mice that harbored the rodent version of malaria and put the animals in a wind chamber. And they found that mosquitos flocked toward the infected animals, attracted by their smell alone.
为了找出原因，研究者们将感染疟疾的小鼠放在风室内。他们发现，那些感染了疟疾的小鼠，仅凭身上散发出的气味，就能引得蚊子蜂拥而至。
By chemically analyzing the animals’ scents, the researchers found that the parasites boost the levels of a variety of odorous compounds that attract mosquitoes. So plasmodium is manipulating both its victim and its carrier to get itself spread far and wide.
研究人员分析了这些气味的化学成分，结果发现，寄生虫升高了小鼠体内多种有味化合物的水平，而这些化合物会吸引蚊子。所以，疟原虫能够同时操控患者与它们的“坐骑”，为自己的广泛传播铺平道路。
The finding may help with malaria prevention: if we can mask or harness the eau d’ infection, maybe we could nose the mosquitoes away from people.
这项发现或许可以帮助人们预防疟疾.蚊子的“老巢”通常在有水的地方，我们可以通过治理被疟原虫污染的水源，来使蚊子掉转鼻头，远离人类。
（题图来源：http://www.skynews.com.au/）
