The prospect of "super soldiers" being created by science has been a staple of sci fi movies for ages. But this time around it's not Kurt Russell being transformed and ordered to climb the chain: it's ants.

 

It turns out that ants have retained the "ancient DNA" to create these super soldiers for the last 35 to 60 million years. Researchers hypothesize that super soldier ants were kind of a thing back then, but for whatever reason, most ant species evolved away from using them.

 

However, the DNA remains. And scientists can turn it on simply by dabbing ant larvae with the right hormone. The resulting super soldier is several times larger than its normal soldier brethren, and is a fully functional individual. 

 

Super soldiers do occur occasionally in nature, just as a fluke of genetics. Some species still employ them to help protect the colony. The enormous size of the super soldier's head is handy for blocking the entrances to the nest. And its gigantic pincers are better able to battle with assailants.

 

Could scientists unlock a monster ant that could terrorize cities and carry children off in its pincers? Unlikely, I'm afraid, despite what old school monster movies may have you believe. First of all, there's the problem of the Square-Cube Law, which restricts the potential size of an ant. The laws of physics state that the bigger an ant is, the less likely it will be able to support its own weight.

 

There is some cause for concern about super ants, though. An ant colony is considered by some to be one giant organism comprised of many parts. As humans, we look at a colony of ants and see a collection of individual ants. But the relationship between an individual ant and a colony is more like the relationship of an individual red blood cell and your whole body.

 

Ants can also deliver incredibly painful, even fatal bites. The Bullet Ant is notorious as having the highest rating on the Schmidt Sting Pain index. It is well named; its sting feels like being shot with a bullet. And the sting of other ants, like the Jack jumper, can be fatal if the victim does not receive the antivenin in time. 

 

Then of course there is the notorious Fire ant, an aggressive species which is invasive in the Southern United States. 

 

Ants are fascinating, even mind-blowing in their complexity. But let's keep them the normal size, shall we? No one needs a plague of giant Bullet ants infiltrating our cities!