As any guy named MacGyver knows, duct tape—and a paperclip—can get you out of plenty of world-threatening jams. But can it zap your warts, too?Anecdotally, people have sworn by it, so much so that scientists have taken note and decided to study the phenomenon themselves. In fact, back in 2002, research published in JAMA Pediatrics found that duct tape was significantly more effective at treating the of verruca vulgaris, or common warts, than cyrotherapy was.

In that study, 51 young subjects were given either cryotherapy—in which liquid nitrogen is applied directly to the wart to freeze it off—or duct tape application for two months.