The creatures have been used for centuries because they eat dead flesh while leaving healthy flesh intact.
But they could help with the healing process even further after scientists were successful in making them secrete a human growth hormone while they eat.
Engineers at North Carolina State University have genetically engineered green bottle fly larvae to produce a growth factor called PDGF-BB, which can drive cell growth.
The low-cost treatment could be useful in countries where incomes are low.
Professor Max Scott said: "A vast majority of people with diabetes live in low or middle-income countries, with less access to expensive treatment options.
"We see this as a proof-of-principle study for the future development of engineered (larvae) strains that express a variety of growth factors and anti-microbial peptides."
He said the long-term aim was to develop a "cost-effective means for wound treatment that could save people from amputation and other harmful effects of diabetes."
The research was published in the journal BMC Biotechnology.