I think the author is saying that there is something beyond the message. The quoted scientist use this analogy too. > The team used a mutant form of S. epiderm

I think the author is saying that there is something beyond the message. The quoted scientist use this analogy too. > The team used a mutant form of S. epidermidis, in which they deleted the genetic mechanism that encodes its quorum sensing system. This suggests that there is an message chemical and some other obscuring chemical and that the mosquito sensors can be independently tuned to this obscuring chemical.