Llama could offer some protection and mechanism to defeat the deadly coronavirus!

Published on May 9, 2020 | Published By: shahid | In Health , Interesting Facts

Coronavirus is a new virus and therefore not much knowledge is available on it.
As time is going on, doctors and scientists are learning about the virus.
And based on this new knowledge, they are trying to find some cure and a preventive tool for the said virus.

As a result, some scientists feel that some help to defeat the virus may come from an unexpected source, the South American animal Llama. Its antibodies have the potential to neutralize the virus and might be useful in severe cases of infection.

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A new study on Llama antibodies

There is a new study that an international team of researchers carried out. The journal called Cell has published it and the research team claims that the antibodies found in the animal Llama could assist in killing the virus.

They built on previous research done 4 years back. In this past study, they found that the antibodies obtained from a then nine-month-old llama named Winter were able to neutralize both SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV viruses over six weeks duration.

Additionally, these antibodies also were found to kill SARS-CoV-2 which is the virus that causes COVID-19.

Jason McLellan, from the University of Texas at Austin is a co-author of this article. He said:

“This is one of the first antibodies known to neutralize SARS-CoV-2,”

The previous study on Llama’s antibodies

The New York Times has reported that this is not the first time that doctors have studied Llama for its protective utility. They have been tried for HIV and influenza and their role was found to be promising.

One wonders why Llama’s antibodies are more effective than human antibodies. The reason is that the antibodies that Llama produces are smaller in size.

Therefore, they can connect to the bad parts of the virus easily. It fits in well with the virus and neutralizes its ill effects.

Daniel Wrapp, Dartmouth Ph.D. is also a co-author of the study and he explained:

“The binding of this antibody to spike is able to prevent attachment and entry, which effectively neutralizes the virus,”

Therefore, the authors are confident that some beneficial therapy will come out with this knowledge. Jason states:

“Vaccines have to be given a month or two before infection to provide protection,”
“With antibody therapies, you’re directly giving somebody the protective antibodies and so, immediately after treatment, they should be protected.”

And he added:

“The antibodies could also be used to treat somebody who is already sick to lessen the severity of the disease,”

Llama, the hero

If Llama’s antibodies could provide a cure for the virus, the animal could become a hero. Xavier Saelens, a molecular virologist at Ghent University in Belgium, another co-author of the study states:

“There is still a lot of work to do to try to bring this into the clinic,”
“If it works, llama Winter deserves a statue.”

Llama is a domesticated South American camelid used mainly as a meat and load-carrying animal. It is very social and remains in herds. Besides, it has very soft and lanolin-free wool.

They have a height of around 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 11 inches. They weigh around 130 to 200 kg. The female llamas (Dams) do not have estrus but are induced ovulators. They mate in the lying-down position and the mating time is long (20-45 minutes). The gestation period is 11.5 months or 350 days.

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Source: Science Alert, Wikipedia

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