'Electric Venom' Makes an Accurate Insecticide

Researchers may have discovered a new and accurate way to target specific pests using spider toxins without harming other beneficial insects, like bees. The toxin in question causes a target's cells to be overwhelmed with sodium, causing an reaction that is similar to being electrocuted, according to a recent study.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, details how a toxin extracted from the desert bush spider Diguetia canities affects German cockroaches in terrible ways, but appears to have no affect on the American cockroach. This indicated that the toxin could be tweaked to target only very specific insect populations while overlooking even close relatives.

"Most insecticides used today take a carpet-bombing approach, killing indiscriminately and sometimes even hurting humans and other animals," study author Frank Bosmans said in a statement. "The more specific a toxin's target, the less dangerous it is for everything else."

Such natural insecticides could seem like a godsend for many conversationalists and bee-lovers, who have been arguing that popular insecticides like neonicotinoids are causing colony collapse disorder (CCD) - a disease that causes bees to leave their hive when they should be wintering - destroying entire colonies over the course of one brisk afternoon.

According to the study, Bosmans lab discovered that a protein from Diguetia canities venom called Dc1a can stimulate a reaction that floods neural cells with positively charged sodium.

"Sodium channels are the fastest ion channels in the human body and are needed to experience nearly every sensation," Bosmans explained.

According to the researcher, when they exposed sample genes from German cockroaches to the Dc1a protein, "sodium poured into the cells. In a bug, that would cause massive seizures, much like being electrocuted."

 "Luckily, the toxin doesn't act on human sodium channels," Bosmans added.

Interestingly, when the researchers compared this reaction to an American cockroach reaction, the results were incomparable. A simple change in just two amino acids in American cockroach genetic information made them resistant to the venom, only triggering a small sodium signal.

Bosmans' team now plans to test the toxin on a wide range of insects, to fully determine its potential as a designer insecticide.