[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.64]To most of us, medicine comes from a drugstore.
[00:05.44]But originally, much of the medicine developed in the last century
[00:12.76]came from natural sources: plants, bacteria and fungi.
[00:21.44]Now, a group of scientists in Great Britain
[00:25.92]are hoping to develop a medicine from poisonous insects.
[00:31.56]They are researching whether the deadly venom of some insects
[00:37.80]can work against bacteria that make people sick.
[00:44.24]About 400 insects live in plastic containers in the Venomtech laboratory.
[00:52.92]Each container has an image of a skull and crossbones.
[00:59.48]The images warn that a bite from the insects inside
[01:05.68]can be anything from painful to downright deadly.
[01:11.36]The venom from these insects contains hundreds of chemical components.
[01:18.00]Each component has a different target and effect.
[01:24.60]Medical researchers, such as Venomtech managing director Steven Trim,
[01:31.92]separate the venom into its component parts.
[01:36.40]Then they create a library of those components,
[01:40.68]looking for the ones that could be turned into new drugs.
[01:45.64]"Some of them we found can kill bacteria, bacteria like E.Coli and staphylococcus,
[01:51.92]so they're very relevant at the moment where modern medicines (are) failing.
[01:55.80]And we're also finding venoms that are modifying and killing cancer cells."
[02:00.72]Finding new ways to kill bacteria is important to researchers.
[02:07.28]One reason is because people have used antibiotics so much
[02:14.08]that some bacteria can now resist it.
[02:18.48]For example, tuberculosis used to be curable with antibiotics.
[02:25.08]Now it is not.
[02:27.80]To get as much venom as possible,
[02:31.64]researchers feed the insects well,
[02:35.04]then put them to sleep temporarily.
[02:38.88]Steven Trim of Venomtech says
[02:42.24]researchers anaesthetize the invertebrates
[02:46.72]to make removing the venom safer.
[02:50.60]After all, an immobile insect cannot bite.
[02:57.00]Anaesthetizing the insect is better for the animals as well, says Trim.
[03:05.28]Researchers then electrically stimulate the insect
[03:11.48]to contract the muscle and squeeze the gland.
[03:16.36]The pressure produces a small amount of venom.
[03:22.56]Researchers separate the venom into hundreds of proteins.
[03:29.84]Each protein contains between one and five different molecules.
[03:37.72]Someday, those tiny molecules
[03:41.60]might be turned into powerful new drugs.
[03:46.48]I'm Marsha James.