After discovering that the antibodies in llamas could neutralize SARS and MERS, researchers in Belgium quickly shifted the study to COVID-19 – and found that the same antibodies are successfully able to defuse the new virus too!
The researchers conducted the study with the help of a 4-year-old llama named Winter, and published their results in the journal Cell. Dr. Xavier Saelens, a molecular virologist at Ghent University in Belgium and an author of the new study, says there will be months of effort trying to bring the potential injection to the public, but “if it works, llama Winter deserves a statue”.
Llamas’ antibodies are commonly used in anti-virus research, because they have one extra type of antibodies is around 25% smaller than that of humans. These smaller antibodies can access tighter areas that human antibodies cannot, making them more effective in neutralizing viruses.
