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Llamas have previously been used in antibody research in work related to HIV and the flu.
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A llama named Winter is seen in this undated photo posted by the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology in Ghent, Belgium on May 5, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS
A flame called Winter could be helpful in finding a treatment for Covid-19, according to a new study published in the magazine Cell by an international team of researchers.
Antibodies found in the blood of the flames were able to defend against COVID infections, according to an international team of researchers,
“This is one of the first known antibodies to neutralize SARS-CoV-2,” said Jason McLellan of the University of Texas at Austin and co-author of the study.
The group started four years ago looking for antibodies that could counteract the SARS virus, which spread in 2003, and the MERS virus that broke out in 2012.
“The work was a side project in 2016. We thought maybe this was interesting,” said Xavier Saelens, joint leader of the Belgian side of the collaboration.
“Then the new virus came along and it became potentially more crucial, more important.”
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Winter, the flame, received safe versions of the SARS and MERS viruses, and then blood samples were taken.
Llamas and other members of the camel family are distinct in creating standard antibodies and smaller antibodies, which scientists can more easily work with.
“The antibodies could also be used to treat someone who is already sick to decrease the severity of the disease,” added McLellan.
The Belgian part of the research team, also led by Bert Schepens, identified fragments of the smaller antibodies, known as nanobodies, to see which one most strongly bound to the virus.
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The team intends to begin testing on animals, in order to allow human testing to begin later in the year. Saelens said they were negotiating with pharmaceutical companies.
The flames have previously been used in antibody research in work related to HIV and the flu, where they helped uncover promising therapies, reports New York Times.
“There is still a lot of work to do to try to bring this to the clinic,” said Xavier Saelens, a molecular virologist at the University of Ghent in Belgium and a co-author. Times.
“If it works, Llama Winter deserves a statue.”
Scientists hope that a treatment plan for the newly infected in the form of antibody therapies could be valuable.
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