The invention also relates to the use of insects, including larval forms and other life forms, in the recycling of biological waste.

The invention further relates to the use of insects and their larvae as a food source.

Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for the manufacture of a medicament for immunity generation and/or treatment and/or prevention of allergies, which method includes the use of insect tissues and/or larval forms and derivatives of insects.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a medicament for the provision of immunity to bacterial and viral disease and/or allergies and/or tumours, said medicament comprising insect tissues and/or larval forms and derivatives of insects.

The medicament may be in a form which permits its ingestion, digestion and assimilation to provide immunity to bacterial and viral disease and/or allergies and/or tumours. The medicament may alternatively be in a form which permits its injection into the subject to which or whom the immunity is to be given. As a further alternative, the medicament may be in a form which permits its absorption transcutaneously.

The medicament may alternatively be in a form which is suitable for ingestion, digestion and assimilation by a nursing mother for provision of immunity to a baby being breast-fed.

The subject may be bird or an animal, including humans.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of recycling biological waste which includes the use of insects, including larval and other life forms, to produce either a medicament having immunity-generating properties or a food source which has immunity-generating properties.

The biological waste may be sewage, paper, vegetable and organic materials. Typical waste materials include animal offal and residue from the meat processing industry. They also include deceased diseased animals, such as those infected with BSE.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of producing a food source which includes the use of insects and their larvae which act as carriers providing immunity generation as well as protein, energy and biologically active beneficial compounds.

Such beneficial compounds include vitamins, omega 3 unsaturated fatty acids, trace elements, minerals and amino-acids, such as methionine, lysine, isoleucine and phenylalanine.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments Certain species of insects and their larvae have adapted by evolution to become biological recyclers. In this role they have developed an ability to metabolise faecal matter, dead, decaying and diseased animal remains. This has necessitated an ability on their part to withstand bacterial and viral attack from the food on which they feed, and in this way they have developed a successful immune strategy.

For the success of the animal kingdom as a whole, it is imperative that disease should not become rampant and be spread from the ingestion of the animals which feed on them.

The ingestion and digestion of insects by h. her animals of the food chain provide a pathway for the transfer of immunity up the food chain.

In the move towards a more concerned approach to our environment, we need to work more closely in tandem with it. This requires a greater understanding of the way of the natural world.

In our husbandry of animals for food, we must, as far as is possible, return to a feeding regime that is more like the original regime from which the animals have developed.

It has been observed that, in the nutrition of the human species, the feeding of simple food substitutes in the form of concentrates, although providing all the basic nutritional requirements, has led to problems in the digestive tract, and a diminution of the health of the individual as exhibited by, for example, the growth in numbers of alimentary tract cancers.

What the human animal requires is good wholesome food.

To ensure this, we must examine and promote the well-being of the animals on which we feed.

In the natural environment the circuit of life succeeds and we must understand and promote this relationship. In the control of disease in man, we have ventured along the path of specific ar bacterial, anti-viral drug protection. In contrast, the rusent invention is concerned with the development of an immune system that is initiated by charging it by the ingestirn of foods in which immunity has been created naturally.

METHOD AND PROCEDURE The insects to be used are grown on a substrate inoculated with the relevant bacteria or virus when pursuing specific immuniological responses. Relevant substrates would be used when biologically recycling, for example, sewage.

The insects to be used, if grown on a substrate of mixed bacteria, will provide a general raised level of anti-bacterial activity, providing general immunity to the recipient consumer. In the incidence of requiring specific immuno-response, then the particular bacteria in question will be used in the substrate. This will promote the particular lectins and induce peptides that are suitable for its control. Under the circumstances that not all of the bacteria are destroyed by the insect's immune system, the ingestion of the insect plus the residual bacteria will provide a means for the induction of the auto-immune system of the recipient consumer.

Presentation of the bacterial-and/or viral-resistant insects would be:- 1 whole and live, or 2 inactivated whole, or 3 homogenised whole, or 4 sectional preparation, or 5 pupated whole live, or 6 pupated whole inactivated.

In the feeding of the insects as a food form it will be optimal to provide and present a food which does not need addition antioxidants and preservatives, as this tends to defeat the philosophy behind the concept.

The extraction of specific anti-viral and anti-bacterial activity from the insects will necessitate chemical and physical extraction processes, involving the use of stabilisers, solvents, reactants and various separation techniques.

INSECT SOURCE The immune response adaptability will be shown particularly amongst carrion and detritus feeders. The viability of the process is largely dependant on the ability to produce readily, large quantities and volumes of the insects of the species that are listed below. It is believed that flies, in their larval form, maggots, are the most suitable, as they have a short life span and high fecundity. Also, they have a natural inactivated inert phase-the pupa stage.

SPECIES TRUE FLIES Muscidae I. House flies common house fly Musca domestica common house fly Faffia Canicularis lesser house fly green cluster fly Dasyphora Cyanella II. Blow flies Calliphoridae blue bottle Calliphora Erythrocephalia<BR> CalliphoraVomitoria green bottle Lucilia Sericata Lucilia Caesar flesh fly Sarcophaga Camaria 111. seaweed fly Coelopidae Coelopa Fridda IV. fruit flies Drosophilia V. crane flies Tipulidae CulicidaeVI.mosquitoes Andphelline fliesStratiomyidaeVII.soldier TabanidaeVIII.horseflies IX. robber flies Asilidae X. Syrphidaeflies Tephritidae XI. louse flies Hippoboscidae Tachinidae XII. sewage flies Diptera 2 cave crickets Rhaphidophoridae 3 cockroaches Dictyptera 4 earwigs Dermaptera 5 ground beetles Carabidae burying beetles Silphidae rove beetles Staphylinidae scarabs and chafers Scrabaeidae click beetles Elateridae larder beetle Dermestidae church tard beetle 6 centipedes Chilopoda millipedes Diplopodia 7 harvestmen Opillionis 8 Series Schizophora 9 moths and butterflies Lepidoptera Superfamily Hesperioidea Superfamily Papillonoidea Superfamily Micropterigoidea Superfamily Eriocranioidea Superfamily Hepialoidea Superfamily Nepticuloidea/Stigmelloidea Superfamily Incurvaroidea Superfamily Cossoidea Superfamily Zygaenoidea Superfamily Pterophoroidea Superfarnily Pyraloidea Superfamily Tortricoidea Superfamily Sesioidea Superfamily Tineoidea Superfamily Alucitoidea <BR> <BR> Superfamily Noctuoidea<BR> Superfamily Geometroidea Superfamily Sphingoidea Superfamily Bombycoidea Caddis Flies Order Trichoptera Bees Wasps Ants: Order Hymenoptera: Superfamily Evanioidies Superfamily Ichneumonoidea Superfamily Cynipoidea SuperfamilyChalcidoidea Superfamily Proctotrupoidea Superfamily Ceraphronoidea Superfamily Chrysidoidea Superfamily Scholioidea The Ants: Superfamily Formicoidea The True Wasps: Superfamily Vespoidea Superfamily Pompiloidea Superfamily Sphecoidea The Bees: SuperfamilyApoidea Snails: cochlea Worms: lumbricus terrestris Slugs DISEASES THAT COULD BE INCORPORATED INTO THIS PROCEDURE Anthrax Bacillus Antharis Botulism Clostridium Botulinum Cholera Vibrio Cholerae Diptheria Coryne Bacterium Diptheriae Food Poisoning Staphylococcus Bacillus Cerens Clostridium Perfringens Salmonella Typhimurium Gas Gangrene Clostridium Perfringens Clostridium Novyi Clostridium Septicum Gonnorrhoea Neisseria Gonorrhoea Leprosy Mycocbacterium Leprae Meningitis Neisseria Meninigitidis Haemophilus Influenzae Streptoccus Pneumonial Listera Monocytogenes Bubonic Plague Yersinia Pestis Pneumonia Streptococcus Pneumoniae <BR> <BR> HaemophilusInfluenzae<BR> Klebsielfa Pneumoniae<BR> Mycoplasm Pneumoniae Q Fever Coxiella Burneth Scarlet Fever Streptococcus Pyogenes Syphilis Treponema Palliduni Tetanus Clostridium Tetani Trachoma Chlamydia Trachomatis <BR> <BR> Tuberculosis Mycobacterium Tubercufaris Mycobacterium Bovis Typhoid Salmonella Typhi Typhus Rickettsia Prowazekit Measles German measles Rubella Chicken-pox Varicella Singles Herpes Zoster Common Cold Acute Coryza Hepatitis Bee Virus Influenza Encephalitis Mumps Whooping Cough Burdetella Pertussis Small-pox Variola Rabies Hydrophobia BACTERIAL FAMILIES COVERED BY THE PROCEDURE Escheria Salmonella Arizona Proteus Klebsiella Shicella Pasteurellayersina Francisella Bruella Actinobacillus Haemophilus Mora & Ella Bordatella Spharophorus Staphyloccus Streptococcus Pneumococcus Corynebacterium Erysipelothrix Listera Bacillus Clostridium Mycobacterium Actinomyces Nocardia Pseudomanas Campylobacter Leptospira Borrelia Treponema Spirillum Mycoplasma Achoeplasma USES AND APPLICATIONS USES A. Immunological Transfer: 1) Transfer of bacterial and viral immunity through ingestion, digestion and assimilation of insects, including their larval forms"in their whole form or processed to recipient.

2) Transfer of bacterial or viral immunity through inoculation of active extracts from the tissues of insects and their larvae to the recipient.

B. As Protein and Organic Recyclers Substrates:- 1. Sewage Waste.

2. Organic waste from abattoirs, meat processing plants (cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and including diseased animals, fish and shellfish, e. g. crabs, musses, whelks and scallops).

3. Vegetable waste, from the food industry and manufacturers including brewing.

4. Wood pulp waste.

5. Household waste.

6. Seaweed.

The invention thus provides a method of eliminating the need for landfill or incineration in that insects can be introduced into land containing waste materials so as to enrich the soil and provide a slow release of nitrogen compounds.

C Animal Nutrition Provision through suitable substrates of : 1) Protein Source 2) Lysine, Methionine & Isolucene in particular, as well as other amino acids.

3) Vitamin Source:- B, Anevrin B2 Riboflavin<BR> B3 Niacin B5 B6 B12 Folic acid Pantothenic Biotin C D E K 4) DMAE 5) Various Fatty Acids Saturated but in particular unsaturated:- RAC <BR> Palmitoleic<BR> Oleic<BR> Linoleic Arichidonic Acid Nervonic Acid Ximenyic myomycin Long Chain Fatty Acids Omega 3 unsaturated Fatty Acids With the correct choice of insects, it will be possible to reduce oxidised unsaturated fatty acids and thus eliminate unsuitable rancid flavoured fatty acids from the food chain, returning the fatty acids to their prior double bond unsaturated state.

The procedure will also enable'fishy tastes'to be eliminated, when feeding insects fed on fish waste to chickens. An important application of the present invention is thus the feeding of insects to chickens to generate innate immunity in the chickens, with the result that the eggs from the chickens are of improved quality. In addition, the innate immunity generated in the chickens can be transferred to the consumers of both the chickens and the eggs laid by the chickens.

Insects living in soil digest and assimilate plant protein including that which has been attacked by fungi. It is accordingly possible to feed the insects on specifically chosen plant protein to produce a desired innate immune response. In addition, the anti- bacterial agents in the slime of worms migrates to the skin of a worm for transfer to the soil, and hence may be absorbed by plant roots and, in this way, promote the health of the plants, providing a feedback mechanism between species members (plants) after one has succumbed to disease promoting a strengthening of the plant population (as with the animal kingdom).

The biological and digestion processes of the insect larvae will also degrade BSE proteins into their component amino aids.

The procedure will also provide a source of trace elements and mineras, including Se Selenium, Fe Iron, Mn Manganese, I lodine, Ca Calcium, S Sulphur, K Potassium, Na Sodium, P Phosphorus and Cu Copper APPLICATIONS 1) Control of disease in man by boosting the innate immunity system and aiding the induction of the auto-immune system.

2) Control of disease in animals and fish. Thus, for poultry, protection can be obtained against avian infectious encephalomyelitis, avian listeriosis, avian plague, avian TB, avian bumblefoot, cage layer fatigue, coccidiosis, E coli, favus, fowl cholera, fowl paralysis, fowl typhoid, gapes, haemorrhagic disease, moniliasis, Newcastle disease, pullet disease, pullorum disease, salmonellosis, synovitis, toxic fat syndrome, gumboro, bronchitis, nephrosis, liver/kidney syndrome, Marek's disease and infestation with trichostrongylus axei. The invention is also applicable to the following swine diseases, i. e. dysentry, swine erysipeala, African swine fever, swine influenza, swine plague, swine pox and SVD. For cattle, protection can be obtained against actinacillosis, actinomycosis, anthrax, foot and mouth disease, brucellosis, coccidosis, pleuro-pneumonia, bovine encephalomyelitis, cattle plague, blouwildebeesoog, cerebrocortical necrosis, clostrial entiritis, Johne's disease, rabies, salmonellosis, skinTB, tick- borne fever, tuberculosis, viral entiritis, virus infections of cows' teats, vulvo-vaginitismastitis, polioencephalomalacia, parasitic gastroentiritis, milk fever, red water, hypocupraemia, hypomagnesaemic disease, infectious ophthalmic disease, part-parturient haemoglobinuria, mucormycosis, mucosaldis and pyelonephritis.

3) As a food base in chickens. When given whole to chickens in a free-range environment, it provides a mode of feeding which promotes foraging and scratching. This also promotes grass and natural vegetation consumption, lessens aggressive behaviour, by satisfying basic pecking response, eliminating the need for beak cutting.

4) It can also serve as a growth promoter, a means of prevention of allergies and a means for preventing or inhibiting the development and growth of tumours.

5) As a food form, it enriches the eggs that are produced from chickens. With correct use of the substrate for insects, an egg can be produced which contains: a) Omega 3 unsaturated fatty acids, but without the fatty taste, and. b) Other biologically beneficial compounds. See Above.

It can also produce an egg of lower cholesterol levels, benefiting man, the consumer.

6) As a food source for game and fowl and pheasant, grouse and partridge, particularly in their early development.

Further Applications: In the recycling of man-made fibres and carbon polymers.

In a marine environment, molluscs can be fed on decaying waste for the generation of an innate immune response in the molluscs, which innate immunity can then be transferred to fish and to those who feed on fish.