Bee Venom Kills HIV and Cancer (Just Another Reason to Save the Bees!) Beth Buczynski - Care2.com
go to original March 30, 2013

Scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered bee venom can kill the HIV virus without harming the body. (NewsyScience)

Colony collapse disorder is decimating bee populations around the world. The possibility of losing our planet’s most industrious pollinator hasn’t motivated agencies like the EPA to protect them, but maybe this will: A team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently used nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom to destroy HIV without harming nearby cells.

According to study results, which appear in the current issue of Antiviral Therapy, bee venom contains a potent toxin called melittin that can poke holes in the protective envelope that surrounds HIV, and other viruses. The paper’s senior author, Samuel A. Wickline, MD, the J. Russell Hornsby Professor of Biomedical Sciences, has even shown that melittin-loaded nanoparticles to be effective in killing tumor cells.

What other naturally occurring substance do you know of that can tackle both HIV and cancer? Exactly.

The study’s authors believe that with further research, they could be able to create a vaginal gel, loaded with the bee venom particles, that could help prevent the spread of HIV.

Read the rest at Care2.com

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