Researchers have been tapping into tarantulas’ venom peptides—along with peptides from horseshoe-crab blood—to tackle drug-resistant melanoma. This work, led by Queensland University of Technology’s Translational Research Institute, spans over a decade and reached a major milestone in December 2024 with a pre-clinical study published in Pharmacological Research. 

The study showed these modified peptides can kill resistant melanoma cells in mouse models—without damaging healthy ones—and, remarkably, the cancer didn't develop resistance