Scorpion toxin can target troublesome pest

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A scorpion's toxin can be used to kill specific harmful insects while not harming the environment, the University of Maryland reported.

Entomology professor Raymond St. Leger discovered the scorpion's genes can be used to create an extremely poisonous fungus that kills certain pests, such as malaria-carrying mosquitoes or coffee crop-destroying beetles, the university in College Park, Md., reported in a news release.

St. Leger and Chengshu Wang, a colleague from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, describe in the November issue of Nature Biotechnology their ability to bio-engineer a new version of the fungus to inject specific insects with the scorpion toxin insect neuro-toxin, killing them within a few days.

"Scorpions have toxins that are superbly adapted to killing insects," St. Leger said. "A scorpion kills by stabbing its prey, so we were looking for a way to get the toxin into the insect without the scorpion."

St. Leger said the fungus attaches itself on the insect's outer surface but grows within the insect.

"If you can get the fungus to insert a toxin into the insect, you can kill the insect very quickly," he said.