http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=8448&utm_source=feedburner&...

Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that a protein from a soil bacterium used to kill insects naturally on organic crops is a highly effective treatment for intestinal parasitic roundworms. These parasites, which include hookworms and whipworms, infect about two billion people in underdeveloped tropical regions and are cumulatively one of the leading causes of debilitation worldwide.

The scientists report in the March 2 issue of the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, that a crystal protein known as Cry5B produced by the Bt, or Bacillus thuringiensis, bacterium is highly effective at a single dose at curing mammals of intestinal roundworm infections.

Bt is a bacterium famous for its use in agricultural insect control and is the leading biologically produced insecticide worldwide. Bt crystal proteins have been used as insecticides for over five decades and are known to be non-toxic to vertebrates.