Scientists have discovered a possible means of developing insecticides that target specific insects while remaining environmentally safe.

John Hopkins researchers have found a way to offer protection to crops from insect plagues that still maintains a certain level of environmental safety. They’ve discovered that naturally occurring insect toxins can be fatal for certain species of insects, yet totally harmless for closely related species. This suggests that insecticides may be developed to help target certain pests without causing any harm to helpful ones, including bees.

Lead study researcher Frank Bosmans, Ph.D., an assistant professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and colleagues were determined to find a way to target specific pests that were harming crops, while leaving other insects alone.

“Most insecticides used today take a carpet-bombing approach, killing indiscriminately and sometimes even hurting humans and other animals. The more specific a toxin’s target, the less dangerous it is for everything else,” said Bosmans in a statement.

The researchers stumbled up this finding after a protein, called Dc1a, was mistakingly included in a shipment sent by Australian collaborators. When this protein was tested on cockroaches from the U.S., the proteins reacted rather weakly.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, and estimated 10,000 – 20,000 doctor-diagnosed pesticide poisonings occur annually among agricultural workers across the U.S.

The team will test the toxin on other insects to determine its full range of impact.

The findings of the study are published in the journal Nature Communications.