Study: Bee Venom Kills HIV

[PADemD]

Source: U. S. News

Bees could hold the key to preventing HIV transmission. Researchers have discovered that bee venom kills the virus while leaving body cells unharmed, which could lead to an anti-HIV vaginal gel and other treatments.

Scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that melittin, a toxin found in bee venom, physically destroys the HIV virus, a breakthrough that could potentially lead to drugs that are immune to HIV resistance. The study was published Thursday in the journal Antiviral Therapy.

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/08/study-bee-venom-kills-hiv

[kalli007]

1. Wow

nt

[otherone]

29. yup

wow

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. Do they just randomly cycle through all known substances

I'm curious about how these things work. Is there some kind of logical deduction that leads to an experiment (well, if substance A generally works to produce effect B, and HIV's anatomy requires effect B, we should test substance A), or is it just random: eagle spit (nope), twice boiled aloe (nope), bee venom (that's a hit!).

Great news, in any case.

People should never forget that radical activists using aggressive, in your face tactics forced American society to deal with HIV.

[SkyDaddy7]

3. I think there is...

some rational involved depending on chemistry, biology, etc., However, I too wonder if sometimes they simply begin trying "out of the box" thinking until they run across a compound that does what they want then they look in detail at what they have found...And how they could go about making it work for whatever purpose they needed it for.

If I run across more info i will let you know.

[adieu]

5. How do you think humans and animals

learn of the healing aspects of certain natural herbs? Just random and observation of other animals eating the plants.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

19. Every environment contains varying plants, animals, herbs, fungi, whatever

So as people migrated, eg to Peru or Finland, healing aspects would need to be learned about the flora/fauna.

Trial and error would be a lot of observation and heartbreaking failures. And a lot of peer discussions and a lot of intergenerational training. And a lot of resistance to change to overcome.

The fact that this was done in so many places by so many people is somehow an optimistic notion. Like maybe humans aren't doomed to kill ourselves off. Like maybe we can actually use our brains for something useful.

[Duer 157099]

21. In many cases, yes

Thus the development of High-Throughput Screening (HTS) in the past couple of decades. With the use of robotics, you can screen through thousands if not millions of compounds very quickly, if you have a sensitive assay. ELISAs, where antibodies are attached to the surface of a microwell plate and then there's some sort of reporter (light, color, etc) to detect when a particular chemical interaction occurs, is the typical sort of strategy, plus variations thereof.

There are multitudes of "libraries" of compounds available. Based on size, origin, chemical nature, FDA-approval status, etc, etc etc. So, the strategy can be directed or random, or both.

[adieu]

4. Gives new meaning to "bee stung lips"

especially if the lips are in the nether regions.

"Oh, that? Just HIV prevention."

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. After all these years of grief and heartbreak

something as simple as bee stings.

Maybe we ought to be looking at Mother Nature first, instead of last.

[IrishAyes]

23. Absolutely

There's something in nature to improve health and/or cure anything. We just have to find out what it is. Although of course not every popular remedy works, but many have a scientific basis, my favorite being the 'tree frog cure' for wounds. You have to take one of the poor little critters (if you can find one!) and place its belly over the wound, then bind it just snugly enough so it can't get away. Eventually it will expire, and then you have to get a fresh one.

A few years ago scientists figured out WHY this works to heal wounds. The tree frog knows its in a bad fix and tries to take care of its own perceived wound by exuding a natural antibiotic from its stomach. You have to change tree frogs when they quit squirming because then they're not pumping out antibiotic anymore.

[olddad56]

7. all these years, the answer was right there in the HIVe.

sorry, couldn't help myself.

[IrishAyes]

24. Good

... for you!

[Exultant Democracy]

8. Biodiversity you strike again, and just before we could kill those meddling bees off.

In response to this I suggest we cut down a few million acres of the rain forest right away so that Americans can shovel more antibiotic and hormone laden burgers into our ever yearning maw.

[davidpdx]

9. I don't like bees

but I'm glad to hear they may lead to the prevention of diseases.

[IrishAyes]

25. All creatures have a place

For instance, I always wondered about flies; what possible good can they be? But in mountain meadows too high for bees to live, flies do the pollinating.

I still don't want them in my house, though.

[Evasporque]

10. so is it safe to have unprotected sex with beekeepers then?

O_0

[eggplant]

11. No. Why do you think they wear those wacky suits? n/t

[sakabatou]

12. And then Big Phrama will try and patent it where it'll cost us thousands

[midnight]

13. The photo looks like a honey bee... I wonder if venom from all bees or just honey bees?

[Thor_MN]

14. Somehow I don't think this means that sex with a WASP is automatcally safe

[Scuba]

15. So why is Monsanto allowed to wipe out all the bee populations?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002582435

[olddad56]

17. because they make their political campaign contributions on time.

[bitchkitty]

16. That is so wierd.

Years ago, when my best friend first found out he was infected, there was NOTHING for AIDS. They had just started with AZT and we were scared because we had read about people dying from the treatment. He started on AZT, and a few years later was literally on his deathbed, with zero t cells, when his doctor gave him one of the new retroviral combos. He recovered and lived several more years before dying of liver disease that was not related to the HIV.

We often talked about cures, and I remember saying something like "Watch - in 20 years they'll find out that something simple will cure it - like spider venom."

I really hope this turns out to be the silver bullet. Too many deaths from this fucking disease!

[sofa king]

18. It would be interesting to look back at those ultra-rare cases....

...where a person beat the virus entirely. I know there was one guy identified in Europe in the late '90s, and scientists at the time had no explanation for his recovery.

[IrishAyes]

26. Spider Venom

It's probably good for something, I just don't know what. But spider cobwebs have an ingredient that's a good emergency treatment for all sorts of open wounds. That's what the pioneers used for gunshot wounds when they had nothing else.

If you get an open wound out in the wilderness and your dog's along, let him lick the wound. That's what animals do for themselves, and it helps clean a human's wound also.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

20. And we're busily allowing Bayer, Monsanto & others

To kill the bees.

[Duer 157099]

22. Ahah! I knew it.

I knew there had to be some nefarious and sinister plot behind Colony Collapse Syndrome!! ( )

Hey, if nothing else, maybe this will lead to increased interest in a remedy for CCS, which in it's own right is devastating to the whole biosystem.

Bees are The Awesome, even though they freak me the hell out when they fly at me.

[IrishAyes]

27. Usually they're just curious

... though I've learned not to wear flower-print clothing outdoors. It even attracts hummers!

I always leave one wasp nest unbothered at the far corner of my porch. They're territorial and will drive off other insects. They eat flies and spiders. I've had a few light on me over the years, but no stings. Frankly they make better neighbors than some people!

[Javaman]

28. Since I keep bees and have been stung at least a few times...

uhhh, no, I won't go there.

[Prog_gun_owner]

30. and to think the bees are dieing because of the damage to our planet.

How many cures now extinct?