Okay so I know wasps have a pretty bad reputation, let’s face it they attack repeatedly when provoked injecting painful venom and they’re neither as useful or as loved as our bees however I think your feelings might change ever-so-slightly after this article! It would seem their moment in the spotlight may be upon us.
A recent discovery has shown that wasp venom attacks cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone!
Brace yourself for the scientific bit..
So the cancer-killing toxin in the wasp venom is something called MP1 (Polybia-MP1) and until this discovery, how it was so selective about cancerous cells was unknown. The new research has shown that MP1 exploits the atypical arrangement of lipids in the cancer cell membranes.
So in normal-person speak, inside cancer cells there are fats and lipids which are abnormally distributed, this ultimately leaves weak points which MP1 can utilize to pierce holes in the cell membrane. At this point the proteins start to leak out which in turn kill the cell.
Phew, you still with me?
For more detailed information you can see the research results written in the Biophysical Journal.
The wasp in question is indigenous to Brazil and the scientific name is Polybia paulista (pictured above).
The next stage in the research involves adjusting the MP1’s amino acid sequence to find out specifically what gives it the selective properties and then the idea is to refine for potential use in medicine. The head of research, Dr Beales, has been very positive about the results so far however is certain a lot more work is still required to make the peptide safe before any live trials can be performed.
Exciting stuff! – and all from that insect which so many people ask me ‘What’s the point in Wasps!?!’
I hope you enjoyed reading this one as much I have enjoyed researching it.
Dan James
Killer Instinct Pest Control
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