By selectively devouring dead flesh and leaving healthy tissue intact, these loathsome larvae have offered a cheap way of treating wounds, but not necessarily a quicker one. Now scientists are looking to hasten the healing process by genetically modifying maggots to produce a human growth factor while they go about their business.

Known as maggot debridement therapy (MDT), the wound treatment method was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2004, though it had been applied in various forms throughout history long before that, from Napoleon's army to experiments in World War I. While the maggots assist in healing by cleaning the wound and keeping them clean by secreting anti-microbial factors, there's no evidence to suggest that they actively fast-track the regeneration of healthy cells.