--- title: Scientists Think Bee Venom Could Fight Cancer description: A safe substance in the venom can block tumor growth canonical: https://time.com/3107547/bee-venom-cancer/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-13T14:36:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:58:04.574Z article:section: Health og:title: Scientists Think Bee Venom Could Fight Cancer og:description: A safe substance in the venom can block tumor growth og:url: https://time.com/3107547/bee-venom-cancer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1955277b9b480c65/69869f5f810bbb877ec92fdb/honeybee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3873 og:image:height: 2179 og:image:alt: Rooftop Beekeepers Produce Honey In Center of Tokyo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scientists Think Bee Venom Could Fight Cancer twitter:description: A safe substance in the venom can block tumor growth twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1955277b9b480c65/69869f5f810bbb877ec92fdb/honeybee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scientists Think Bee Venom Could Fight Cancer > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=388ec693-ecf9-4cde-aef1-d775fdce89be&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: American Chemical Society: Treating Cancer with Venom [Watch (HLS stream): American Chemical Society: Treating Cancer with Venom](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/c4SzcTEv.m3u8) (1:24)  _Published 2014-08-13. American Chemical Society: Treating Cancer with Venom_  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 13, 2014 2:36 PM UTC American Chemical Society: Treating Cancer with Venom  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 13, 2014 2:36 PM UTC Pure bee venom injected into the bloodstream is highly lethal, but researchers say that parts of the venom could useful in making drugs to treat some kinds of cancer. In a new study, scientists took bee venom, as well as that of snakes and scorpions, and separated out proteins and peptides within it in to test if they could be used to block tumor growth without harming patients. Indeed, the scientists discovered that a specific substance within the venom, called melittin, can keep malignant cells from spreading. But bees don’t make enough venom for it to be feasible to harvest it naturally, so the researchers made synthetic melittin in the lab for their tests. The researchers, with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, presented their findings this week at the 248th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco. “We have safely used venom toxins in tiny nanometer-sized particles to treat breast cancer and melanoma cells in the laboratory,” lead researcher Dipanjan Pan said in a [statement](https://time.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=3107547&action=edit&message=1). “These particles, which are camouflaged from the immune system, take the toxin directly to the cancer cells, sparing normal tissue.” The next step, Pan says, is to test the substance on animals and then, he hopes, people. ## Transcript [00:00] A new type of cancer treatment is getting a lot of good [00:04] buzz. Dr. Dipanjan Pan and his team are using venom [00:06] from bees and other creatures to kill cancer cells, [00:09] while sparring patients the side effect of getting stung. [00:11] Pan and his team presented their findings at the [00:14] national meeting of the American Chemical Society in [00:16] San Francisco. Venom from bees, snakes and [00:20] scorpions contains proteins and peptides that can [00:22] attach to cancer cells and block tumor growth. The [00:26] idea is if we can use that power in our favor, then [00:30] that would be wonderful. Predictably doctors can't just [00:33] inject venom into patients without some pretty nasty [00:36] side effects. Venom can damage the heart and nerve [00:39] cells and cause bleeding under the skin. Pan and his [00:42] team at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign [00:45] set out to solve that problem. The main point is how [00:48] can we control their potency. They are potent [00:52] and that's why they are deadly. Pond injected synthetic [00:55] venom into nano particles. Very small containers with [00:59] some very big benefits. The nano particle containers [01:02] deliver the venom directly to the cancer cells. The [01:06] venom binds to the cells and prevents further growth. [01:09] Pawnes says the next step is to test the new treatment [01:12] approach in rats and pigs he hopes to study the [01:15] technique with human patients in the next three to five [01:17] years. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3107547/bee-venom-cancer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3107547/bee-venom-cancer/"},"headline":"Scientists Think Bee Venom Could Fight Cancer","datePublished":"2014-08-13T14:36:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T08:58:04.574Z","description":"A safe substance in the venom can block tumor growth","url":"https://time.com/3107547/bee-venom-cancer/","keywords":["Cancer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1955277b9b480c65/69869f5f810bbb877ec92fdb/honeybee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1955277b9b480c65/69869f5f810bbb877ec92fdb/honeybee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rooftop Beekeepers Produce Honey In Center of Tokyo","caption":"Rooftop Beekeepers Produce Honey In Center of Tokyo","creditText":"Chris McGrath—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3107547/bee-venom-cancer/","name":"Scientists Think Bee Venom Could Fight Cancer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"American Chemical Society: Treating Cancer with Venom","description":"American Chemical Society: Treating Cancer with Venom","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/c4SzcTEv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-13T14:20:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/c4SzcTEv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3107547/bee-venom-cancer/","duration":"PT1M24S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3107547/bee-venom-cancer/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```