Over two hundred million cases of malaria occur annually worldwide. Limiting malaria transmission has been a major public health goal for many years; it’s transmitted by mosquitoes, and most efforts target the insects. But the parasite itself also influences transmission, as having a malaria infection actually makes people more attractive to mosquitoes. A recent study published in Science shows that this attraction may be due to a specific malaria metabolite, knowledge of which could aid in future public health efforts.

While having malaria is bad enough, previous studies have shown that the parasite somehow arranges to make infected individuals more attractive to mosquitoes than healthy people are. This increased attraction is at least partially due to the fact that people infected with malaria smell more attractive to the mosquitoes. The researchers behind this Science study were interested in the chemical changes that occur during an infection with the malaria parasite, and how those changes could alter the odor profile of infected hosts.

The parasite in question is a single-celled protozoan that infects the red blood cells of hosts. The protozoans have their own metabolic pathways and cellular needs, many of them distinct from those of their hosts.