Researchers are a step closer to uncovering who is more likely to be bitten by a mosquito, with the insects infecting millions of people with deadly viruses each year.
Advanced technology has led to a greater understanding of the genetic makeup of yellow fever mosquitoes, allowing scientists to move forward with developing better insecticides and preventing sickness.
Gordana Rasic of the QIMR Berghofer medical research institute in Brisbane was part of an international study into the genetics of the insect.
She says the research is significant because it comes at a time when public health epidemics caused by the transmission of viruses like dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika are "exploding around the world".
"We can now understand better how mosquitoes are transmitting all of these viruses because we know some mosquitoes tend to transmit viruses, some don't," Dr Rasic said.
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The yellow fever mosquito infects 400 million people globally each year, but Dr Rasic says efforts to prevent viruses spreading have been blocked by incomplete genetic data.
"By knowing how these genes are actually determining which mosquito is going to transmit viruses and which is not will also create an avenue for us to change these genes and make mosquitoes resistant to these viruses so they cannot even transmit them in the future," she added.
