Nanoparticles Made From Bee Venom Can Kill HIV

Earlier this week we reported on the remarkable news that a Mississippi-born baby was cured of HIV. Now, as if to show the disease that it's days are truly numbered, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that nanoparticles infused with a toxic bee venom can kill HIV. The researchers hope to take this new compound and develop a vaginal gel that can prevent the further spread of the disease.

Moreover, these melittin-loaded nanoparticles left the surrounding cells unharmed, which bodes well for the development of a topical vaginal virucide. But this didn't happen by accident. The nanoparticles were endowed with a kind of filter that prevents healthy cells from coming into contact with the toxin. HIV, on the other hand, is small and it sifts through these filters, thus exposing it to the toxin.