Honey Bees Argumentative Essay
In Adam’s County, it’s difficult to come across an individual who has never stepped on a bee during his or her childhood. Being the apple capital of the state, it’s only natural that a multitude of honey bees inhabit the area . After all, who else is going to pollinate all of the apple orchards? These little guys have mixed reviews throughout the area: some call them “Friend,” while others cry “Foe!”. Nonetheless, the benefits of having honey bees around include more than bountiful apple crops and copious amounts of ooey-gooey honey. In fact, research within the past decade has found that bees are good for more than inducing that itchy, burning, stinging pain that can reduce even the strongest of men to tears. Honey bees, their venom especially, have become a revolutionary new resource in the fight against severe allergies, HIV/AIDS, and cancer.
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There’s good reason for the notoriety of honey bee stings.
The female bees, or worker bees, have hollow, serrate stingers that are attached to a venom sac (Christiansen). Once the bee stings a human, its abdomen is torn from the body, leaving the muscles surrounding the venom sac to work the stinger further into the skin and continue to pump venom into the wound (“Loveridge”). The cytotoxic venom consists of sixty-three components, including histamine, pheromones, peptides (tiny enzymes), and several different enzymes (“Loveridge”). While the enzymes of the venom work to break down the membranes of cells, it’s the peptide melittin that does the most damage. Making up half of the venom’s dry weight, melittin induces histamine and cortisol release and is the culprit behind the pain of a sting (“Loveridge”). This 26-amino long peptide targets cells and attacks their membranes, effectively destroying them (“Loveridge”). The ability of melittin to destroy cell membranes is what scientists are most interested in manipulating to treat acquired immune deficiency syndrome and various
cancers.
Allergic reactions to bee stings can be fatal, but experiments have shown that bee venom immunotherapy has helped reduced their severity. Atopic reactions, or severe allergic reactions, occur when the immune system overreacts to a foreign body. For many individuals, the severity of their allergic reactions can be lessened by slowly introducing small amounts of the allergen so that the body becomes accustomed to the substance. By desensitizing the immune system, strong responses are suppressed. This concept works just as well for honey bee venom as it does for pollen allergies. In a type of treatment known as “bee venom immunotherapy,” a series of microgram doses of bee venom are administered below the patient’s skin (“Bee Venom”; Goldberg, Confino-Cohen). In a study conducted by Goldberg and Confino-Cohen, 103 patients with a severe bee venom allergy were gradually given doses of bee venom until they reached the one hundred microgram maintenance dosage (“Bee Venom Immunotherapy”). Within a week of reaching the maintenance dose, the patients were challenged with a live bee sting and their immune responses were observed (Goldberg, Confino-Cohen). Goldberg and Confino-Cohen recorded the following results:
Seventy-six of 103 patients (73.8%) who reached the 100 microgram maintenance dosage agreed to be challenged. Sixty-seven patients (88.2%) tolerated the sting uneventfully. Four patients (5.3%) developed mild transient rash and continued to receive the 100 microgram maintenance dosage. In 5 patients (6.6%) the sting resulted in mild-severe systemic reaction. In 4 of these patients the maintenance dosage was increased to 200-250 micrograms. All of them tolerated uneventfully a repeated sting which was performed within 1 week in 3 patients and after 14 months in 1 patient. (“Bee Venom Immunotherapy”).
Other studies have proven to be just as effective and lead to an overall estimated 98 to 99 percent protection during immunotherapy and about 95 to 85 percent efficacy over the next five to ten years after therapy (“Bee Venom”).
One of the most exciting uses for bee venom being explored is in fighting HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is a virus-based disease that results in a very poor immune system. Viruses like this are tricky to treat and nearly impossible to cure due to their ability to mutate and resist antiviral treatments. However, researchers think they may have found a solution in bee venom. Melittin, as mentioned before, is a small peptide that perforates the membranes of its target cells (Koebler). The cells then die due to their internal constituents spilling out (it's similar to how honey bees die when they sting people and their internal organs are ripped out from their abdomens)(Koebler). As it turns out, HIV cells are much smaller than human cells (Nordqvist). Nanoparticles coated with the toxin melittin are suited with protective bumpers that are small enough for only HIV cells to fit (Nordqvist). Once the virus cells are caught in the bumpers, they’re coated with melittin and destroyed (Koebler). According to Joshua L. Hood, MD, PhD, “‘We are attacking an inherent physical property of HIV. Theoretically, there isn't any way for the virus to adapt to that. The virus has to have a protective coat, a double-layered membrane that covers the virus’” (Nordqvist).Washington University of Medicine in St. Louis’s proof-of-concept study showed that this is, indeed, the case (Ryan). With this breakthrough comes the potential for topical vaginal virucidal gels or, theoretically, direct injection into the bloodstream to eliminate the virus (Koebler).
By the same token, melittin may also be useful in treating cancer. A host of studies have been performed on the effects of melittin on various cancers. From destroying gastric cancer to slowing lewis lung carcinoma (LLC), the peptide has proven effective (Mahmoodzadeh, Amir, et al; Huh, Jeong-Eun, et al). In the study on lewis lung carcinoma, melittin not only prevented the cells from reproducing without having to kill them, but it also prevented the cancerous growth from spreading and growing (Huh, Jeong-Eun, et al). Similar to the HIV treatment, scientists are working to create a “magic bullet” treatment of nanoparticles that will deliver melittin to specific cancers (Loveridge).Hopefully, the use of more natural substances will prevent adverse side effects like those associated with chemotherapy. And not only is the venom being looked into -- the insect itself is being considered. Honey bees have an incredible sense of smell. It’s comparable to dogs, actually. These hard little workers, once properly trained, have even outperformed lab equipment (Gaidos). The idea is that if an individual has a particular type of cancer, then the trained bees will be able to detect “volatile compounds” associated with it (Gaidos). Looking to bees for help might help develop methods and medicines for early detection and more natural treatment.
So next time the kids go out for a barefoot romp in the field, make sure to warn them about stepping on the honey bees. Tell them about the delicious apples they help produce and that sticky-sweet honey found in their hives. But most of all, inform the future generation about nature’s incredible little workers and their ability to help solve all sorts of problems. Maybe they’ll be able to figure out that “magic bullet” when they grow up.
There’s good reason for the notoriety of honey bee stings.
The female bees, or worker bees, have hollow, serrate stingers that are attached to a venom sac (Christiansen). Once the bee stings a human, its abdomen is torn from the body, leaving the muscles surrounding the venom sac to work the stinger further into the skin and continue to pump venom into the wound (“Loveridge”). The cytotoxic venom consists of sixty-three components, including histamine, pheromones, peptides (tiny enzymes), and several different enzymes (“Loveridge”). While the enzymes of the venom work to break down the membranes of cells, it’s the peptide melittin that does the most damage. Making up half of the venom’s dry weight, melittin induces histamine and cortisol release and is the culprit behind the pain of a sting (“Loveridge”). This 26-amino long peptide targets cells and attacks their membranes, effectively destroying them (“Loveridge”). The ability of melittin to destroy cell membranes is what scientists are most interested in manipulating to treat acquired immune deficiency syndrome and various
cancers.
Allergic reactions to bee stings can be fatal, but experiments have shown that bee venom immunotherapy has helped reduced their severity. Atopic reactions, or severe allergic reactions, occur when the immune system overreacts to a foreign body. For many individuals, the severity of their allergic reactions can be lessened by slowly introducing small amounts of the allergen so that the body becomes accustomed to the substance. By desensitizing the immune system, strong responses are suppressed. This concept works just as well for honey bee venom as it does for pollen allergies. In a type of treatment known as “bee venom immunotherapy,” a series of microgram doses of bee venom are administered below the patient’s skin (“Bee Venom”; Goldberg, Confino-Cohen). In a study conducted by Goldberg and Confino-Cohen, 103 patients with a severe bee venom allergy were gradually given doses of bee venom until they reached the one hundred microgram maintenance dosage (“Bee Venom Immunotherapy”). Within a week of reaching the maintenance dose, the patients were challenged with a live bee sting and their immune responses were observed (Goldberg, Confino-Cohen). Goldberg and Confino-Cohen recorded the following results:
Seventy-six of 103 patients (73.8%) who reached the 100 microgram maintenance dosage agreed to be challenged. Sixty-seven patients (88.2%) tolerated the sting uneventfully. Four patients (5.3%) developed mild transient rash and continued to receive the 100 microgram maintenance dosage. In 5 patients (6.6%) the sting resulted in mild-severe systemic reaction. In 4 of these patients the maintenance dosage was increased to 200-250 micrograms. All of them tolerated uneventfully a repeated sting which was performed within 1 week in 3 patients and after 14 months in 1 patient. (“Bee Venom Immunotherapy”).
Other studies have proven to be just as effective and lead to an overall estimated 98 to 99 percent protection during immunotherapy and about 95 to 85 percent efficacy over the next five to ten years after therapy (“Bee Venom”).
One of the most exciting uses for bee venom being explored is in fighting HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is a virus-based disease that results in a very poor immune system. Viruses like this are tricky to treat and nearly impossible to cure due to their ability to mutate and resist antiviral treatments. However, researchers think they may have found a solution in bee venom. Melittin, as mentioned before, is a small peptide that perforates the membranes of its target cells (Koebler). The cells then die due to their internal constituents spilling out (it's similar to how honey bees die when they sting people and their internal organs are ripped out from their abdomens)(Koebler). As it turns out, HIV cells are much smaller than human cells (Nordqvist). Nanoparticles coated with the toxin melittin are suited with protective bumpers that are small enough for only HIV cells to fit (Nordqvist). Once the virus cells are caught in the bumpers, they’re coated with melittin and destroyed (Koebler). According to Joshua L. Hood, MD, PhD, “‘We are attacking an inherent physical property of HIV. Theoretically, there isn't any way for the virus to adapt to that. The virus has to have a protective coat, a double-layered membrane that covers the virus’” (Nordqvist).Washington University of Medicine in St. Louis’s proof-of-concept study showed that this is, indeed, the case (Ryan). With this breakthrough comes the potential for topical vaginal virucidal gels or, theoretically, direct injection into the bloodstream to eliminate the virus (Koebler).
By the same token, melittin may also be useful in treating cancer. A host of studies have been performed on the effects of melittin on various cancers. From destroying gastric cancer to slowing lewis lung carcinoma (LLC), the peptide has proven effective (Mahmoodzadeh, Amir, et al; Huh, Jeong-Eun, et al). In the study on lewis lung carcinoma, melittin not only prevented the cells from reproducing without having to kill them, but it also prevented the cancerous growth from spreading and growing (Huh, Jeong-Eun, et al). Similar to the HIV treatment, scientists are working to create a “magic bullet” treatment of nanoparticles that will deliver melittin to specific cancers (Loveridge).Hopefully, the use of more natural substances will prevent adverse side effects like those associated with chemotherapy. And not only is the venom being looked into -- the insect itself is being considered. Honey bees have an incredible sense of smell. It’s comparable to dogs, actually. These hard little workers, once properly trained, have even outperformed lab equipment (Gaidos). The idea is that if an individual has a particular type of cancer, then the trained bees will be able to detect “volatile compounds” associated with it (Gaidos). Looking to bees for help might help develop methods and medicines for early detection and more natural treatment.
So next time the kids go out for a barefoot romp in the field, make sure to warn them about stepping on the honey bees. Tell them about the delicious apples they help produce and that sticky-sweet honey found in their hives. But most of all, inform the future generation about nature’s incredible little workers and their ability to help solve all sorts of problems. Maybe they’ll be able to figure out that “magic bullet” when they grow up.