Publications

  • Asian tiger mosquito siting on a cluster of small white and pink flowers

    Mosquito taste responses to human and floral cues guide biting and feeding

    We examined how taste stimuli are encoded by Aedes albopictus mosquitoes—a highly invasive disease vector—and how these cues influence biting, feeding and egg laying. We also identified key tastants on human skin and in sweat that synergistically promote biting behaviours.

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  • Side profile of an Asian tiger mosquito on a black background with its reflection below it.

    The mosquito taste system and disease control

    We provide a guide to current knowledge in the field of the mosquito taste system and suggest a wealth of opportunities for research. We also propose means by which taste might be exploited in new strategies for mosquito control.

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  • side view of an Asian tiger mosquito with its head raised upwards on a bright green background

    Coming soon...

    Please come back later for more exciting updates from the lab.

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Neurobiology of taste

Mosquito taste responses to human and floral cues guide biting and feeding.
L.S. Baik, G.J.S. Talross, S. Gray, H.S. Pattisam, T.N. Peterson, J.E. Nidetz, F.J.H. Hol, J.R. Carlson. Nature. 2024.

Highlighted in a Yale News article: “Are you tasty to mosquitoes? Study offers clues into when and why they bite”

Meeting a threat of the Anthropocene: Taste avoidance of metal ions by Drosophila.
S. Xiao, L.S. Baik, X. Shang, J.R. Carlson. PNAS. 2022.

The mosquito taste system and disease control.
L.S. Baik and J.R. Carlson. PNAS. 2020. (Review article)

Circadian biology

Circadian regulation of light-evoked attraction and avoidance behaviors in daytime-versus nighttime-biting mosquitoes.
L.S. Baik, C. Nave, D.D. Au, T. Guda, J.A. Chevez, A. Ray, and T.C. Holmes. Current Biology. 2020.

Highlighted in a Current Biology dispatch article: “Circadian Clocks: Mosquitoes Master the Dark Side of the Room”

Distinct mechanisms of Drosophila CRYPTOCHROME-mediated light-evoked membrane depolarization and in vivo clock resetting.
L.S. Baik, D.D. Au, C. Nave, A.J. Foden, W.K. Enrriquez-Villalva, and T.C. Holmes. PNAS. 2019.

A rhodopsin in the brain functions in circadian photoentrainment in Drosophila.
J.D. Ni, L.S. Baik, T.C. Holmes, and C. Montell. Nature. 2017.

CRYPTOCHROME mediates behavioral executive choice in response to UV light.
L.S. Baik, K.J. Fogle, L. Roberts, A.M. Galschiodt, J.A. Chevez, Y. Recinos, V. Nguy, and T.C. Holmes. PNAS. 2017.