In 1976, an American doctor named John Daly discovered that the venom extracted from the skin of the Amazon frog works as a painkiller 200 times stronger than morphine. However, the problem was its extreme toxicity (a drop of it is enough to kill ten men), which prevented its use as a painkiller. Only recently, doctors succeeded in synthesizing a chemical drug similar to it - that does not contain the toxic element - and they tentatively named it ABT596. This discovery is just an example of many drugs that are extracted - or identified - from weak or lowly creatures that we do not value. Take, for example, fly larvae that feed on ulcerated wounds and are no more than 2 mm long. Despite their disgusting appearance, they have been used for centuries as a type of "folk medicine" and modern doctors have confirmed their effectiveness in disinfecting wounds. Napoleon's physician was the first to notice - during battles - that wounds infested with fly larvae always remain cleaner and better than others. This phenomenon was also recorded by the American army physician William Baer and relied on during World War II. Today, it has become certain that fly larvae secrete effective antibiotics and feed only on dead tissue. In this way, they work to clean wounds and prevent recurrence of infections - and in cases of diabetes in particular, they become the most effective solution since wounds do not heal easily. Currently, German and British hospitals use fly larvae to treat wounds and ulcers that refuse to submit to the usual antibiotics with a success rate exceeding 90% (and the German company Biomund is the largest shareholder in this sector, selling every 100 larvae for 75 euros)! There is also the leech, which loves the blood of bruises and inflamed wounds, which makes it ideal for this purpose. Despite its terrifying appearance, it can be safely placed on wounds (as the Amazon Indians do) because it has natural antibiotics in its saliva that kill germs. It is also used as a type of cupping because it sucks twice its weight in spoiled blood. When it is satisfied, it falls off by itself, leaving behind a clean, closed wound like the letter X. Even today, English clubs still use leeches to treat players' injuries - and in southern England there is the largest farm in the world for raising leeches for medical purposes! As for arterial diseases - and blood clotting after surgery - many insects can be used that have anti-clotting substances in their saliva (thanks to which the mosquito ensures a smooth flow of your blood). As for bat saliva, it can dissolve fatty deposits in the veins and prevent clots from accumulating in advance. In addition to preventing skin irritation, ticks can provide an effective treatment for asthma, fever and arthritis. As for sandflies, they provide an effective drug against leishmaniasis and some types of vitiligo. Even the deadly toxins in some insects (snakes and spiders) can be used as vaccines and antidotes for the toxins themselves!! .. All this turned insects into "small laboratories" for extracting medicinal drugs (and the whole idea turned into an independent science that is unparalleled in the world of plants except for the hybridization of fruits and vegetables to carry therapeutic elements or hidden medical vaccines).. In fact, you do not need to be a doctor or a chemist to contemplate the ability of the Amazon frog to secrete toxins without being affected by them, or the ability of fly larvae to devour festering wounds without dying from them, and then wonder about the nature of the antibiotics they carry and the possibility of using them on humans!!