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# Do Cockroaches Hold the Key to MRSA Treatment?
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/do_cockroaches_hold_the_key_to_mrsa_treatment_090820101153/
- Published: 2010-09-08T12:46:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-20T15:46:15.000Z
- Description: University of Nottingham researchers found nine molecules in the brain and nervous tissue of cockroaches and locusts that killed 90 percent of E. coli and MRSA bacteria without harming human cells. Simon Lee presented the work to the Society for General Microbiology.
- Author: Laura Lamp King
- Tags: Other Diseases, Avoiding Illness, #vivvo-import

Wouldn't it be great if when you got that next infection you could just hunt a cockroach, drizzle a little chocolate and pop it in your mouth?

According to researchers from the University of Nottingham (U of N), tissues from the brains and nervous systems of cockroaches and locusts killed off 90% of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria without harming the human cells they were attacking.

The cockroach and locust, two of the hardiest insects around, may break ground on the next-generation antibiotics due to the nine molecules found in their brains and nervous systems that are toxic to superbugs which are becoming resistant to mainstream drugs revealed British scientists Monday.

Giving credit to the idea that scientists will be able to discover new treatment in the natural world for MRSA and E.coli and other emerging superbugs such as Acinetobacter, Pseydomonas and Burkholderia.

Simon Lee, Postgrad Researcher, U of N School of Veterinary Medicine and Science has focused his work on potential antimicrobial compounds from insects. He reported yesterday at Europes largest microbiology society meeting of the Society for General Microbiology. 

"We hope that these molecules could eventually be developed into new treatments for E. coli and MRSA infections that are increasingly resistant to current drugs," Lee said, adding, they could potentially provide alternatives to the shrinking arsenal of effective antibiotics, with their "serious and unwanted side effects."

On his web page at the U of N, Lee describes insects as "a relatively untapped source of pharmaceutical drug-leads."

The research, sponsored by the University and the U.K. Ministry of Defens, revealed that the effective properties come only from tissues in the brain and nervous system -- muscle, fat and circulatory fluid had no effect on the bacteria. Lee and colleagues are continuing to try to figure out how the nine antimicrobial molecules work and why.

It's hard not to think of the unsanitary and unhygenic environments that cockroaches and locusts inhabit giving them the reputation of dirty bugs, but Lee was not surprised that insects could naturally secrete their own antimicrobial drugs.

Lee says, "Insects often live in unsanitary and unhygienic environments where they encounter many different types of bacteria. It is therefore logical that they have developed ways of developing themselves against micro-organism."

Naveed Khan, an associate professor of molecular biology at Nottingham, and Lee's academic supervisor, noted that microbes such as MRSA, "have developed resistance against the chemotherapeutic artillery that we throw at them. They have shown the ability to cause untreatable infections and have become a major threat in our fight against bacterial diseases."

Research continues from this very early phase and will require many years of testing to see if the promise holds true against emerging superbugs such as Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas and Burkholderia.