Abstract

Mosquito Biology Mosquitoes seek hosts using several cues, one of which is body heat. Greppi et al. hypothesized that cooling-activated receptors could be used for locating mammalian hosts if they were rewired downstream for repulsion responses (see the Perspective by Lazzari). A gene family conserved in insects and known to be responsible for sensing changes in temperature in fruit flies was the starting point. Genome-wide analyses and labeled CRISPR-Cas9 mutants allowed visualization of the receptor in neurons of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes' antennae and assessment of adult female mosquitoes with a disrupted copy of the receptor. This ancestral insect temperature regulatory system has been repurposed for host-finding by malaria mosquitoes. Science , this issue p. [681][1]; see also p. [628][2] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aay9847 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aba4484

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