Luke O'Neill

speaker

4,397 appearances 23 recordings 2 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 6d ago

Luke O'Neill’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 23 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 6.

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Show Me the Science with Luke O'Neill · The Science of Stings · 10 Sep 2026 podcast

The mastoparins drive the mast cells.

Phospholipase A2 clips these little lipids and makes these things prostaglandins and leukotrienes that cause inflammation.

Hyaluronidase breaks down hyaluronic acid, loosening up the whole skin because hyaluronic acid is in skin.

And then these proteases begin chewing things up and that promotes the inflammation as well.

And that's what's happening in wasp venom.

I bet you're glad you asked now, Linda.

Now, the other thing that mastopadins do that's interesting is they do act on nerve cells and they make them even sorer, right?

They cause them to fire in the skin, hence the pain.

And they know what's going on there.

There are two ion channels called TRPV1 and TRPA1.

and they get triggered by mastoparins, and that makes the nerves fire and cause the pain sensation.

And then also a thing called substance P is made during this big, huge reaction in your body, in your skin, and substance P really drives those neurons crazy.

So the pain and burning sensation

is being driven by all these different things.

And substance P is especially good at causing this burning feeling.

So now all that reaction you're getting from the sting is happening.

And all the inflammation, of course, and the swelling and all the rest of it's happening in the background as well.

Now, why is it happening, you might wonder?

Well, of course, the wasp is using this venom

to kill insects and eat them.

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