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At a time when scientists around the world are looking for a possible treatment to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, a study has claimed that the antibodies found in flames could be helpful.
Researchers at the University of Ghent in Belgium are working on antibodies taken from a flame.
These antibodies are a type of protein produced by the immune systems of animals that fight against foreign invaders, which binds tightly to a key protein found in the coronavirus.
According to Dorien de Vlieger, a doctoral researcher working with flame antibodies at the university, “flames have a special type of antibody. They are smaller compared to human antibodies because they lack certain things. But the advantage of these molecules is that they are very stable. “
A four-year-old female illama named Winter has been injected with a protein present on the surface of the coronavirus, hoping to develop antivirals that may aid in treatment.
These are the “first known antibodies to neutralize Sars-CoV-2,” according to the study news release.
“The antibodies could also be used to treat someone who is already sick to decrease the severity of the disease,” he added.
The researchers have been working on coronaviruses and in 2016 they injected, in a four-year winter, a flame with SARS and MERS. The antibodies produced helped attack the peak proteins of the SARS virus, allowing it to bind to human cells.
They did a similar experiment, again in winter, with COVID-19 this year to see the result. Antibodies bound themselves, but did so “weekly”. The team then stitched together two copies of the antibody to obtain an effective result.
However, the team is preparing for further trials with hamsters or primates to further test the study, before applying it to humans. The first set of human antibody tests to start at the end of the year.
This is not the first time that an antibody has been developed from this animal.
There has been a pre-existing medication on the market to treat a blood disorder called thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.
However, the camel-like beast’s antibodies will be used to treat a respiratory illness from the first time.
