When Leslie Vosshall opens the door to her sprawling Manhattan apartment, I notice a child’s drawing on the front door asking visitors to take off their shoes. Vosshall would never ask me outright, but this crayoned request from her 10-year-old daughter Ophelia is too charming to ignore. I do as directed, and we conduct the interview in our socks.

As it happens, Vosshall is wearing socks all over her body—thin nylon socks, one pair under her regular socks, and another pair with the feet cut off on her arms. The extra layer of clothing is all in the interest of science, specifically Vosshall’s decades-long fascination with the mechanics of the olfactory system. To generate enough samples of human scent for their insect experiments, the people in Vosshall’s lab occasionally wear socks on their arms and legs, while working up a sweat and foregoing deodorant or showers. After 24 hours the socks are removed, rolled up, and thrown into a freezer until needed. Her team uses the aromatic power balls to investigate how human scent attracts female mosquitoes.

Photo: Jon Moe