Agricultural Research Service (ARS) microbiologist Paul V. Zimba and chemist Peter Moeller of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have found a fish killing toxin that has shown promise in prevent cancer growth and eventually killing cancer cells. The toxin is called euglenophycin which has a molecular structure similar to fire ant venom.
In 2002, it was reported that more than 21,000 striped bass, a $100,000 value, had died in a commercial aquaculture facility in North Carolina. Zimba and Moeller worked together to determine the cause of these deaths. They analyzed numerous samples of the pond water that these striped bass were in, and from this they were able to narrow down the cause to two organisms: Euglena sanguinea and E. granulata (two species of freshwater algae). This case was the first of many cases since then in which normally harmless freshwater algae have been found to be able to kill. It is not the algae themselves that are killing the fish, but rather a toxin that they produce, euglenophycin, that is doing the killing.
This type of toxin has also been tested on cancer cells, and has been able to slow down cancer cell replication and eventually causing cancer cells to die.
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