Mapping Human Preference in the Mosquito Brain, Timothy W. Schwanitz, GS (2924323)

From Research Princeton Research Day May 4th, 2023

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The Yellow Fever Mosquito is a globally invasive mosquito that prefers to bite human beings because it prefers the odor of human beings to the odor of other animals. In parts of its native range in Africa, however, there are animal preferring mosquitoes as well. This makes for an interesting study system where we can compare and ask what is going on in the mosquito brain to give it preference for human odor? To address this question, my PhD project focuses on gaining genetic access to the individual neuron types that allow a mosquito to smell: the olfactory sensory neurons. These neurons converge on a brain region called the antennal lobe, which is divided into sub-regions called glomeruli. Being able to manipulate these brain sub-regions via a molecular atlas (a map of different neuron types) will allow us to understand how exactly the mosquito brain encodes human odor, either by observing brain activity in response to different components of human odor, or by silencing different sub-regions to understand which ones drive human preference in behavioral trials. Knowledge of the fundamental workings of the mosquito’s sense of smell can then pave the way for better future repellents and other interventions to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne disease.

Date: May 4th, 2023
Speaker: Timothy W. Schwanitz, GS (2924323)
Department: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Appears In: Princeton Research Day 2023 Research Day

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Mapping Human Preference in the Mosquito Brain, Timothy W. Schwanitz, GS (2924323)

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