Mind-controlling molecules from wasp venom could someday help Parkinson's patients

(American Chemical Society) After being stung by a parasitic wasp, the American cockroach loses control of its behavior, becoming host to the wasp's egg. Days later, the hatchling consumes the cockroach alive. While this is a gruesome process for the cockroach, scientists now report in ACS' journal Biochemistry the discovery of a new family of peptides in the wasp's venom that could be key to controlling roach minds, and might even help researchers develop better Parkinson's disease treatments.