- The women's marathon winner at the Sydney Olympics has
revealed the secret of her success: she drank the stomach juices of giant,
killer hornets that fly 60 miles a day at up to 20mph.
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- Top buzz: Naoko Takahashi said the juice was 'a crucial
factor' in helping her to win gold at sydney Naoko Takahashi, 28, from
Japan, consumed the hornet juice during training and the race itself after
scientists discovered that it had astonishing powers to boost human stamina.
The bitter-tasting liquid could soon be available to British athletes.
British companies are understood to be in negotiations with the Japanese
firm Meiji which turns the juice into a palatable - and completely legal
- drink.
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- Scientists at the Institute of Physical and Chemical
Research near Tokyo began investigating the species of large hornets (Vespa
mandarina japonica) to find out what gave them the energy to fly the equivalent
of more than two marathons in search of food for their young. The researchers
found that the energy source was an acidic juice produced by young hornets
and passed back to the adults.
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- Hornets feed their grubs by killing other insects, chewing
the meat into a ball and carrying up to half their own body weight back
for the grubs, waiting in underground nests. When the grub has eaten, the
adult, in a curious ritual, taps it on the head. This is a signal for the
grub to produce a few drops of clear liquid which is then passed to the
adult in a "kiss". The adults are totally dependent on this juice
because their tiny digestive tracts do not allow them to eat solid foods.
The two-inch grubs - soft white blobs, yet to develop into the adult shape
- are able to digest solids.
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- The task of finding and removing hornets' nests, which
contain about 4,000 grubs, was hazardous for the scientists, even with
heavy-duty protective clothing and hard hats. The three-inch-long adult
insects - up to five times the size of a typical British wasp - can be
lethal, and kill about 40 people every year. They also attack and kill
whole hives of bees.
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- The scientists eventually managed to remove some 80 nests
and, back in the laboratory, extracted the juice from the grubs using pipettes.
A series of tests was carried out - first on swimming mice and then on
students on exercise bicycles. In both cases the conclusion was stark:
those who had taken the juice performed almost twice as well as those who
had not.
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- Dr Takashi Abe, who led the research team, said: "Our
experiments showed that the juice helped mice and humans to transfer fat
into energy more efficiently and this is very important in helping athletes'
performance." The hornet juice - made up of amino acids which can
be reproduced in the laboratory - reduced human muscle fatigue, slowed
the build-up of lactic acid and improved the body's efficiency.
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- The scientists worked with the Meiji company to turn
the juice into a drink acceptable to humans and it was taken up by many
Japanese endurance athletes, including Takahashi, who says it was "a
crucial factor" in helping her to win the Olympic gold medal. Takahashi's
victory confirmed her status as the greatest female marathon runner of
all time. It followed her triumph at the Asian Games in Bangkok two years
ago when she finished in two hours, 21 minutes and 47 seconds - the fastest
time recorded in a women-only marathon.
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- The story of the hornet "superjuice" will be
told in Nature on BBC Radio 4 at 9pm tomorrow. Mary Colwell, the producer,
said: "It is amazing that this collection of acids found naturally
in a hornet seems to change the human body and improve the performance
of athletes, and that what works for insects flying long distances also
works for humans who run long distances. It is a fascinating case of pure
science meeting high-level sports and gives insights into what helps animals
and humans reach their peaks of endurance."
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- A British Olympic team official said: "This is not
something that our athletes have tried, but it sounds as though it might
be worth us taking a look at."
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