Science & technology | This will only hurt a little

Mosquitoes, wasps and parasitic worms could help make injections less painful

How to improve the humble hypodermic

Close up macro disgusting mosquito biting human skin
Image: Alamy

Using hypodermic needles to deliver drugs has been common for more than a century. The past hundred years have seen all manner of medical advances, from antibiotics and x-rays to mRNA vaccines and immunological cancer treatments. Yet the needle has stayed mostly unchanged. Although now available in a variety of different sizes, it remains, in essence, a hollow, pointy tube.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “This will only hurt a little”

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