Everyday new and unheard of cures are discovered by scientists. Sometimes years, maybe even decades, of research is needed to provide a sudden breakthrough in any field of medicine. Or as some have come about we could suddenly discover that the cure to a wide-spread fatal disease has been hiding right under our nose this entire time. Camouflaged by the complex biology and overall “unknown” that is nature. In this case “Nature” takes the form of one of her many creations, the common bee. Melittin is a powerful toxin found in bee venom. It can poke holes in the protective viral envelope that surrounds the human immunodeficiency virus, as well as other viruses. Free melittin in large-enough quantities can cause considerable damage.

Nanoparticles containing bee venom melittin can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (It can also even destroy some viruses (other than HIV) and malignant tumor cancer cells while at the same time leaving surrounding cells unharmed, scientists from Washington University School of Medicine reported in the March 2013 issue of Antiviral Therapy (from which a large portion of this article was gleaned).The researchers said that their finding is a major step toward creating a vaginal gel that can prevent HIV spread. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
Joshua L. Hood, MD, PhD, a research instructor in medicine, said: “Our hope is that in places where HIV is running rampant, people could use this gel as a preventive measure to stop the initial infection.”

The scientists then showed that nanoparticles loaded with melittin do not harm normal, healthy cells. Protective bumpers were added to the nanoparticles surface, so that when they come into contact with normal cells (which tend to be much larger), the nanoparticles bounce off rather than attach themselves. While HIV is much smaller than the nanoparticles and fits in between the bumpers, when HIV comes across a nanoparticle it goes in between the bumpers and comes into direct contact with its surface, which is coated with the bee toxin, which destroys it. This study was carried out in cells in a laboratory environment. However, the nanoparticles are easy to produce – enough of them could easily be supplied for future human studies.

And so there again nature has shown us not only a thing of beauty but the correct path to follow on the way to finding a cure and, with all hope in mind, save hundreds if not thousands of lives.