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Researchers have identified a virus-killing toxin, and combined it with a clever delivery mechanism

Part of what makes the HIV virus so difficult to kill is its tiny size. It's many times smaller than your average blood cell, which allows the sneaky virus to infect and kill white blood cells "the very cells that are supposed to rub out viral infections," says WebMD.

It's also why scientists are looking to unlikely sources for ways to fight the virus. Now, we might have our most unlikely source yet: Bees.

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Scientist at the Washington University School of Medicine, led by researcher Joshua L. Hood, have shown, in vitro, that it's indeed possible to kill HIV cells using bee venom. The active ingredient is a toxic peptide called melittin.

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(via Washington University)

However, by using tiny nanoparticles (the purple blobs above) as a delivery mechanism, researchers were able to send melittin (the green "arms") to the HIV virus directly. This was accomplished by outfitting thenanoparticleswith tiny bumpers (the red "O"s) that helped keep healthy blood cells at bay, essentially acting as a strainer that filters the pint-sized HIV virus into the bee-inspired death trap.

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Bee venom: A potential HIV- killer ?