Cockroach milk once touted as a ‘superfood’ - But scientists explain why ethics and logistics could make its energy-dense potential too difficult to exploit

Cockroaches are suddenly having a bit of a moment. These vermin creatures that have become an unlikely name in a recent political imbroglio and are now at the middle of one of science’s strangest prize-winning stories. The insect is proving that it can attract attention far beyond kitchens and pest-control ads. This time, however, there is some serious science behind the buzz.

Three researchers representing an 11-member international team from India, France, Japan and the US have won the 2026 Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering that milk proteins from viviparous cockroaches pack about three times as much energy as milk proteins from cows.

The award went to Ramaswamy Subramanian, professor in Purdue University’s Department of Biological Sciences; Leonard “Leo” Chavas, structural biologist and general manager and representative director of DECTRIS Japan; and Nathan Coussens, director of the In Vitro Evaluation and Molecular Pharmacology Laboratories at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research.

The cockroach that does something most others don't

The research centers on Diploptera punctata, the only known viviparous cockroach, meaning its embryos develop inside the mother rather than being laid as eggs in the usual cockroach fashion.

The unusual creature produces a milk-like substance for its developing offspring. But researchers discovered that this nourishment is not simply a liquid resembling conventional milk.

Instead, the milk proteins form crystals inside the embryo’s midgut, which creates a highly concentrated nutritional store.

The original research, titled “Structure of a heterogeneous, glycosylated, lipid-bound, in vivo-grown protein crystal at atomic resolution from the viviparous cockroach Diploptera punctata,” was published in the International Union of Crystallography Journal in 2016.

Three times the energy of dairy milk

This is where the tiny crystal becomes scientifically fascinating. The researchers determined the structure of the crystals at atomic resolution, using advanced X-ray macromolecular crystallography. Their analysis showed that the crystals contain milk proteins that bind lipids and organize themselves into a tightly packed structure.

The result is an unusually dense nutritional package. The original study estimated that one crystal contains more than three times the energy of an equivalent mass of dairy milk.

The 2016 research reported an atomic-resolution structure at 1.2 Å, revealing glycosylated proteins with a lipocalin fold that bind lipids and form a tightly packed crystalline lattice.

For developing embryos, that structure appears to solve a very specific biological problem: providing a constant and concentrated supply of complete nutrients while they develop inside the mother.

It isn't really “milk” in the way we imagine it

The phrase “cockroach milk” makes the discovery sound like an insect version of cow’s milk sitting inside a tiny carton. The reality is different and considerably stranger with the squirm-inducing flyers.

The material studied by the researchers consists of milk proteins that crystallize inside the developing embryo. The crystals are heterogeneous, meaning they contain proteins with different amino acid sequences, attached sugars and bound fatty acids.

That unusual combination is precisely what made the structure scientifically interesting. Rather than being a simple, uniform crystal, it represents a rare example of substantial protein heterogeneity inside a naturally occurring, living-system crystal.

The discovery took years to unravel

The prize-winning story did not begin with a recent breakthrough. Coussens first encountered the specimen about 25 years ago, when he was an undergraduate working in Subramanian’s laboratory. He suspected that the crystals might be something more than waste products. When he placed them in an X-ray beam, he discovered, to the team's surprise, that they were proteins. It would take more than a decade to determine their atomic structure, Purdue University noted.

During that period, Coussens continued conducting biophysical studies, while the wider project developed into an international collaboration involving researchers, students and postdoctoral fellows from several laboratories.

The eventual paper brought together researchers from institutions in India, the United States, Japan, Canada and France.

Why would the Ig Nobels pick cockroach milk?

The Ig Nobel Prizes are designed to recognize scientific achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think. Winners are selected by the Ig Nobel Board of Governors from nominations submitted by researchers and others around the world. That makes cockroach milk almost tailor-made for the award.

But Subramanian stressed that the unusual subject should not obscure the science behind it. “This research made people laugh because of its unusual subject, but underneath that was a serious effort to understand how nature solves a biological problem. I’m happy that the work has continued to make people curious and think about science in a different way,” Purdue University quoted him.

From bizarre biology to future protein design

Perhaps the most interesting part of the story is what happened after the original discovery. At Purdue, Subramanian is now exploring whether insights from this unusual protein system could be useful for biomolecular design, including work that combines artificial intelligence with protein engineering.

The protein framework identified in the cockroach system is exceptionally stable, making it an intriguing starting point for designing proteins with new functions. The goal is not to engineer proteins for insects, but to learn from unusual properties found in nature and apply those principles to new biomolecular designs.

As Subramanian put it, “This is one of the exciting things about doing science,” Subramanian said. “You start with one question, and years later you realize there are entirely new questions and possibilities that came from that discovery.”

Discovery that outlived its original question

The story also shows why some scientific discoveries take on a life of their own. Coussens said the research even inspired his high-school-aged neighbor at the time to eventually earn a PhD in entomology.

“It changed her life,” Coussens said, as accounted by Purdue University. “The ig Nobel Prize is recognition that our study remains a touchpoint to inspire young learners and to grow their curiosity and love for science.”

For Chavas, the project similarly became a long-running scientific journey, taking him from the original discovery toward specialized in vivo crystallization platforms in France and Japan.

“What started as a delightfully bizarre inquiry into cockroach milk ended up sparking a major milestone in my career. Witnessing nature engineer such dense, stable protein crystals in vivo inspired me to spend the last decade establishing and running specialized in vivo crystallization platforms across France and Japan to industrialize this fantastic phenomenon. Receiving an Ig Nobel Prize is a fantastic reminder that when high-performance technology meets unbridled curiosity, even the most unconventional biological oddities can open up serious new frontiers in science.”

So, is cockroach milk the next superfood?

This is where the viral version of the story needs a reality check. Cockroach milk has attracted attention for its nutritional composition, and some researchers, including an Italian study from 2018 published in EXCLI Journal, have described it as a potential “superfood.” But the material is not commercially produced, and there is limited research on its human health benefits.

A 1977 laboratory analysis reported a composition of roughly 45% protein, 25% carbohydrates, 16–22% fat and 5% amino acids.

But high energy density does not automatically make something a practical human food. The material is extremely difficult to harvest. Co-author of the cockroach milk study, Chavas, in a 2016 interview with Inverse, described the process as labor-intensive, involving the removal of the cockroach's midgut to collect the milk-like crystals.

Production is another problem: about 10 cockroaches produce only about half a milliliter of product, whereas producing 100 grams could require killing upwards of 1,000 cockroaches, according to Chavas's estimate cited in the material.

So while three times the energy of dairy milk makes for an extraordinary scientific headline, it does not mean cockroach milk is about to replace cow's milk on supermarket shelves. The bottom line is the joke may be in the name “cockroach milk.” The science behind it, however, is anything but a joke.