No one can know when our ancestors discovered that maggots infected wounds had a positive effect on them, according to archaeological research: the Maya dipped the dressing in cow’s blood before putting it on the wound, and then exposed it to the sun in the hope that maggots would crawl all over it. The first medical reference book in which maggots appeared was the European Hortus Sanitatus, a German medical textbook. In the 15th century, Ambroise Pare, a wartime surgeon, documented maggots helping wounds to heal. There is evidence that maggots were purposefully introduced into wound healing in the mid-18th century during the American Civil War. Zacharias, a Northern physician during the Civil War, reported that he used green fly larvae on soldiers’ wounds to remove necrotic tissue. Modern maggot therapy was founded by William Baer. He was a professor of orthopedic surgery at Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland, and accompanied the Army to France during World War I. While on the battlefield, he observed a number of maggots on the battlefield. On the battlefield, he observed maggots growing on some soldiers’ wounds, but these wounds were clean and gradually healing. After the war, he used maggots to treat four children with troublesome osteomyelitis with great success. He continued to use maggots to treat wounds, but some patients contracted tetanus, so he began to look for ways to disinfect the maggots, and after much trial and error, he found a way to disinfect the eggs. He also studied entomology, selected various fly species suitable for clinical use, and tried to raise flies in captivity. Maggot debridement treatment was often used and widely accepted in the 1830s, 40s and into the 50s. Maggot therapy was more widely used during World War II, and Lederle Laboratories produced and distributed large quantities of sterile maggots for medical use. However, with the use of sulfonamide, penicillin and other antibiotics, the use of maggots to treat these infections was phased out, and Lederle Laboratories ceased production. In fact, if a patient is given two choices: one is to let the worm-like maggots crawl over the wound, and the other is to inject the drug or take the pill orally, few patients will choose the former. One doctor who has revived these humble maggots in the medical community is Dr. Ronald A. Sherman. A graduate of the University of California, Irvine, with an academic background in entomology, Dr. Sherman became interested in maggots in 1983 and began clinical trials using maggots for therapeutic purposes in 1989.Dr. Sherman and his collaborators at the Veterans Service Medical Center pioneered the reintroduction of maggot therapy and found that maggots could successfully treat many types of wounds. They began to advocate and promote maggot debridement, and in 1990, Sherman completed a study using maggots to treat non-healing wounds, finding that maggots completely debrided most wounds of necrotic tissue within 1 week and that the wounds healed at a higher rate than conventional treatments. In the mid-1990s, maggot therapy spread to the United Kingdom, Europe and Israel, where it is even more prevalent than in the U.S. In the U.K. alone, it is estimated that maggot therapy saves 1 billion pounds annually in health care costs. He invented bagged maggots in 2002, which are medical maggots in a bag similar to a bag of tea, so that patients and medical staff cannot see the maggots directly, avoiding the bad visual experience that maggots bring to people, and it is very easy to use, and this treatment method is now very popular in Europe. Maggot therapy has also been introduced to Australia and other countries, and the number of doctors accepting and requesting maggot therapy is increasing. In 1995, Sherman took his fly species to the University of California, Irvine, and established a maggot therapy laboratory, making it very easy for physicians throughout North America to use maggots. At first, maggots were used without FDA approval, and insurance companies typically did not pay for treatments that were not approved. in January 2004, maggots became the first live animal to be approved by the FDA for use as a medical device for wound debridement. In February of the same year, the UK National Health Centre also approved the use of prescriptions for doctors to obtain medical maggots. The Biological Therapeutics, Education and Research Foundation was established as a non-profit organization in 2003, and Sherman became the director of the organization. Maggot therapy laboratories are currently being marketed, and maggot therapy is showing more promise as drug-resistant strains emerge.