Insect bites and stings Insect bites and stings Insect bites and stings occur when an insect is agitated and seeks to defend itself through its natural defense mechanisms, or when an insect seeks to feed off the bitten person. Some insects inject formic acid, which can cause an immediate skin reaction often resulting in redness and swelling in the injured area. Stings from fire ants, bees, wasps and hornets are usually painful, and may stimulate a dangerous allergic reaction called anaphylaxis for at-risk patients, and some wasps can also have a powerful bite along with a sting. Bites from mosquitoes and fleas are more
Insect cell culture Insect cell culture The use of insect cell lines as production hosts is an emerging technology for the production of bio pharmaceuticals. There are currently more than 100 insect cell lines available for recombinant protein production with lines derived from "Bombyx mori", "Mamestra brassicae", "Spodoptera frugiperda", "Trichoplusia ni", and "Drosophila melanogaster" being of particular interest. Insects cell lines are commonly used in place of prokaryotic ones because post-translational modifications of proteins are possible in insect cells whereas this mechanism is not present in prokaryotic systems. The Sf9 cell line is one of the most commonly used lines in insect cell