Just like us, the monarch butterfly sometimes gets sick thanks to a nasty parasite. But biologist Jaap de Roode noticed something interesting about the butterflies he was studying — infected female butterflies would choose to lay their eggs on a specific kind of plant that helped their offspring avoid getting sick. How do they know to choose this plant? Think of it as "the other butterfly effect" — which could teach us to find new medicines for the treatment of human disease.

Jaap de Roode: How butterflies self-medicate

How butterflies self-medicate

Monarch butterflies select specific milkweeds, imparting natural resistance to offspring against parasites, a form of self-medication.

Monarch butterflies, when infected, opt for medicinal milkweed, enhancing offspring survival by mitigating disease impact.

Monarchs' choice of medicinal plants reveals instinctual self-medication, promising insights for human pharmaceutical development.