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Current Overview and Main Challenges of the Use of Galleria mellonella in Biomedical Research

16 April 2026

Silva Fabiana Alves de Souza, Costa Maria Eduarda da Silva, de Lima Patrícia Michelle Nagai, Ribeiro Jaqueline Lemes, Burd Betina Sayeg, Herculano Rondinelli Donizetti, da Silva Laura Beatriz Borim, Carmo Paulo Henrique Fonseca, de Almeida‐Silva Luis Augusto, Kavanagh Kevin, Junqueira Juliana Campos, Garcia Maíra Terra

Summary

1. Plain-language summary of what the study found

This review highlights how wax moth larvae (Galleria mellonella) are becoming a valuable and ethical alternative to using vertebrate animals in biomedical research. They are easy to use, cost-effective, and share key innate immune system features with mammals, making them useful for studying infections, drug effectiveness, and how hosts respond to various substances.

2. Key findings

  • Ethical & Practical Model: Galleria mellonella larvae serve as a practical, low-cost, and ethical living model for biomedical research, helping to reduce the use of vertebrate animals.
  • Mammalian-like Immunity: They possess an innate immune system with functional similarities to mammals, providing relevant insights into infection dynamics and immune responses.
  • Broad Research Applications: The model is successfully used to study how microbes cause disease, test the effectiveness of antimicrobials, understand host-pathogen interactions, and evaluate toxicological responses.
  • Alignment with 3Rs: Its adoption supports the "Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction" principles in science, minimizing animal use while maintaining robust experimental outcomes.

3. Practical takeaways for someone interested in nutrition and longevity

While this study focuses on a research model rather than direct health advice, its findings are indirectly relevant. The use of wax moth larvae allows researchers to more quickly, ethically, and cost-effectively screen potential new antimicrobials, immunomodulators, or compounds from natural sources (relevant to nutrition) that might impact health and disease. This accelerated discovery process helps advance our understanding of how various substances affect immune function and overall host health, which could eventually contribute to strategies for disease prevention and healthy longevity.

4. Study limitations

A key limitation of the wax moth model is its lack of an adaptive immune system, which means it cannot fully replicate complex, long-term immune responses seen in mammals. Additionally, a lack of standardized methods across laboratories can make it challenging to compare and reproduce research findings consistently.

Abstract

Abstract Larvae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella have become an increasingly important in vivo model for biomedical research, providing a practical, ethical, and biologically relevant alternative to vertebrate organisms. Its suitability as a model system lies in its low maintenance cost, ease of handling, and ability to survive at both ambient and mammalian body temperatures. Most importantly, G. mellonella exhibits an innate immune system with functional and structural parallels to that of mammals, allowing meaningful insights into infection dynamics and immune responses. This review summarizes the biological and immunological foundations that underpin the use of G. mellonella in experimental research and examines its expanding range of applications. The model has been successfully employed to study microbial pathogenicity, antimicrobial efficacy, host–pathogen interactions, and toxicological responses. In recent years, its use has extended to emerging fields such as nanomedicine, immunomodulation, and environmental biotechnology, reflecting its growing translational value. The adoption of G. mellonella also aligns with current ethical principles in science, particularly the 3Rs framework (replacement, refinement, and reduction), by minimizing the use of vertebrate animals while maintaining robust experimental outcomes. However, certain challenges persist, including the lack of adaptive immunity and the need for methodological standardization to enhance data reproducibility and comparability across laboratories. Collectively, the growing body of evidence supports G. mellonella as a reliable and versatile experimental model that bridges the gap between invertebrate and mammalian systems. Continued methodological refinement and integration with molecular and omics approaches are expected to further consolidate its role in translational and preclinical research. © 2026 The Author(s). Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
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