Jaap de Roode, "Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves" (Princeton UP, 2025)

May 28, 2025

Jaap de Roode, a distinguished Biology professor at Emory University, explores the fascinating world of animal self-medication. He discusses how species like apes and bees use natural remedies to heal themselves, revealing insights that could transform human medicine. De Roode emphasizes the importance of understanding these behaviors and their cultural implications. He also highlights the medicinal potential of animal venoms and the innovative intersections of nature and technology in scientific advancements. The conversation underscores a greater appreciation for animal wisdom in health.

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ANECDOTE

Monarchs' Maternal Medicine Choice

Monarch butterfly mothers lay eggs on more toxic milkweed to medicate offspring against parasites.
This maternal choice helps caterpillars consume medicine that reduces infection and disease symptoms.

INSIGHT

Innate Medicinal Behavior in Caterpillars

Caterpillars' bodies alter taste perception when infected, causing them to prefer medicinal alkaloids.
Animals may medicate via innate physiological responses rather than conscious knowledge.

ANECDOTE

Chimpanzees' Cultural Leaf Medicine

Chimpanzees swallow hairy leaves whole to expel parasitic worms from their guts.
Groups have unique leaf-folding customs, showing cultural transmission of medicinal behavior.

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Ages before the dawn of modern medicine, wild animals were harnessing the power of nature's pharmacy to heal themselves. Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves (Princeton University Press, 2025) reveals what researchers are now learning about the medical wonders of the animal world. In this visionary book, Jaap de Roode argues that we have underestimated the healing potential of nature for too long and shows how the study of self-medicating animals could impact the practice of human medicine.

Drawing on illuminating interviews with leading scientists from around the globe as well as his own pioneering research on monarch butterflies, de Roode demonstrates how animals of all kinds--from ants to apes, from bees to bears, and from cats to caterpillars--use various forms of medicine to treat their own ailments and those of their relatives. We meet apes that swallow leaves to dislodge worms, sparrows that use cigarette butts to repel parasites, and bees that incorporate sticky resin into their hives to combat pathogens. De Roode asks whether these astonishing behaviors are learned or innate and explains why, now more than ever, we need to apply the lessons from medicating animals--it can pave the way for healthier livestock, more sustainable habitats for wild pollinators, and a host of other benefits.

Doctors by Nature takes readers into a realm often thought to be the exclusive domain of humans, exploring how scientists are turning to the medical knowledge of the animal kingdom to improve agriculture, create better lives for our pets, and develop new pharmaceutical drugs.

Jaap de Roode is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Biology at Emory University, where he is director of the Infectious Diseases across Scales Training Program, which trains graduate students in interdisciplinary science to study and control infectious disease.

Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network.

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