Alpaca your bags, coronavirus.
The race to find effective coronavirus treatments has led to an unlikely hero: a 4-year-old Belgian llama named Winter, whose antibodies show promise in blocking the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 from infecting cells.
Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, the National Institutes of Health and Ghent University in Belgium began researching llama blood four years ago while looking for antibodies to fight the 2003 SARS virus and the 2012 MERS virus, which are also coronaviruses. And members of the camel family, such as llamas and alpacas, produce two types of antibodies to detect bacteria and viruses: one similar to human antibodies, as well as smaller antibodies called nanobodies that are about a quarter of the size. And these nanobodies are not only easier for scientists to work with, but they can also be nebulized and used in an inhaler.
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