[Animal Modeling]-Can insect venom be used to develop anti-cancer drugs?

  There are countless insects around us. You may be used to adding a spoonful of honey to breakfast, or you may accidentally be bitten by a bee on your way home from get off work. The impact of insects on human life is far greater than we thought.

  Recently, University of Illinois scientist Dipanjan Pan said that if people can precisely control the release of insect toxins, then it is possible for people to use insect toxins to treat cancer. DipanjanPan's laboratory has developed a nano-drug carrier system that can deliver insect venom directly to the tumor site without affecting the physiological activity of normal tissue cells. Dipanjan Pan et al. used this nano-drug delivery system to target insect toxin components to breast and melanoma cells under laboratory conditions. At the same time, this drug delivery system is very efficient because it can fully avoid monitoring the immune system. DipanjanPan said that he is currently using active ingredients from snake venom and scorpion venom. In the next step, the researchers will test its therapeutic effects in mice and pigs. It is expected that in the next 3-5 years, this therapy may enter the clinical research phase.

  Coincidentally, researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in the United States also tried to develop a nano-drug carrier system for the delivery of melittin, one of the components of bee venom, for the treatment of HIV.