Millions of years ago digger wasps learned how to harness beneficial bacteria to create a cocktail of drugs that protected its larvae from infection. [Thx Saturn]

The era of antibiotics began in 1928 when Alexander Fleming spotted how penicillin produced by green mold killed bacteria.

But long before, Philanthus wasps were coating their cocoons with antibiotics to fight off harmful microbes.

The insects not only evolved a method of manufacturing antibiotics, they used them in a highly effective way, said the scientists writing in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

Just as human experts have learned to do, the wasps combine different drugs that work together to destroy many different organisms.

The German researchers found that beewolves teamed up with a type of bacteria called Streptomyces in a symbiotic relationship that benefited both species.

In exchange for having a home, the bugs produced a cocktail of nine different antibiotics effective against a broad range of harmful bacteria and fungi.

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Italian researchers are claiming that famed artist Caravaggio’s mad exploits were the result of lead poisoning from the paints he used.

A team of anthropologists hope to prove their theory by carrying out DNA tests on bones which they believe are the remains of the Renaissance artist.

Caravaggio was renowned for his hot temper, heavy drinking and violent temperament and was forced to go on the run in 1606 after killing a man in a tavern brawl, a crime for which he was condemned to death by Pope Paul V.

He died in July 1610 at the age of 39, with mystery surrounding the circumstances of his death ever since.

It has been suggested he contracted syphilis or even that he was assassinated but anthropologists from the universities of Pisa, Ravenna and Bologna are studying other theories – that he contracted malaria while travelling in Italy or that he suffered from lead poisoning.

“Lead poisoning accentuates traits like aggressive and nervous behaviour, which Caravaggio displayed during his life,” said Silvano Vinceti, the team leader.

“Painters in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries used these paints all the time and often suffered serious health problems as a result.”

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Unit 731, the Imperial Japanese Army’s notorious medical research team, carried out secret Josef Mengele-style experiments on human test subjects. Now some remains from the unit are prompting a reopened investigation into what crimes occurred.

The experiments included hanging people upside down until they choked, burying them alive, injecting air into their veins and placing them in high-pressure chambers.

Now new detail about their victims’ suffering could be revealed after the authorities in Tokyo announced plans to open an investigation into human bones thought to have come from the unit.

A new search is also due to be carried out for mass graves that may contain more victims of human experiments.

The bones are thought to be from up to 100 people and were discovered in a mass grave in 1989 during construction work.

They bore the marks of saws and some of the skulls had drill holes and portions of the bone cut out. But the issue is so controversial in Japan that they have since been stored in a repository.

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Evidence has been found that shows a successful amputation was performed 6,900 years ago.

The surgeon was dressed in a goat or sheep skin and used a sharpened stone to amputate the arm of his patient.

The operating theatre was not exactly Harley Street — more probably a wooden shelter — but the intervention was a success, and it has shed light on the medical talents of our Stone Age ancestors.

Scientists unearthed evidence of the surgery during work on an Early Neolithic tomb discovered at Buthiers-Boulancourt, about 40 miles (65km) south of Paris. They found that a remarkable degree of medical knowledge had been used to remove the left forearm of an elderly man about 6,900 years ago — suggesting that the true Flintstones were more developed than previously thought.

The patient seems to have been anaesthetised, the conditions were aseptic, the cut was clean and the wound was treated, according to the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap).

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An academic is claiming that Charles Darwin suffered from a genetic vomiting disorder.

Darwin often became a virtual recluse during the worst episodes.

Previous theories regarding the cause of his illness have included hypochondria or panic disorders, while others claimed the problems lay with ‘repressed anger towards his father’, nervousness about his relationship with his wife or guilt over conflict with his earlier religious beliefs.

However, writing in the British Medical Journal online, Prof John Hayman, claimed it was probably cyclical vomiting syndrome. As well as vomiting, the condition causes nausea, headaches, stomach and skin problems – all symptoms from which the On the Origin of the Species aothor suffered.

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