One of the more unusual bits of potential good news I guess, though very preliminary.
Llama antibodies could help us defeat CoVid-19
I read this and began to think, "Why llamas?" - are they just another animal species that can be used in trials or is there something specific about them, that makes them different?
The article hints at this, but doesn't give the full picture. So I looked at the scientific research paper on this and it turns out that llamas, along with other camelids and sharks, produce a distinctly different class of antibody to almost any other species on earth.
The paper explains it as follows (apologies for the technical language):
It goes on to say that these VHH antibodies are not necessarily more powerful than regular antibodies but:
Llama antibodies could help us defeat CoVid-19
According to a new study published in the journal Cell Tuesday by an international team of researchers, antibodies found in the blood of llamas were able to stave off COVID infections.
I read this and began to think, "Why llamas?" - are they just another animal species that can be used in trials or is there something specific about them, that makes them different?
The article hints at this, but doesn't give the full picture. So I looked at the scientific research paper on this and it turns out that llamas, along with other camelids and sharks, produce a distinctly different class of antibody to almost any other species on earth.
The paper explains it as follows (apologies for the technical language):
In addition to conventional antibodies, camelids also produce heavy-chain-only antibodies (HCAbs), which contain a single variable domain (VHH) instead of two variable domains (VH and VL) that make up the equivalent antigen-binding fragment (Fab) of conventional immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies.
It goes on to say that these VHH antibodies are not necessarily more powerful than regular antibodies but:
VHHs can easily be constructed into multivalent formats and they have higher thermal stability and chemostability than most antibodies. [...] Their advantageous biophysical properties have led to the evaluation of several VHHs as therapeutics against common respiratory pathogens ...
The use of VHHs as biologics in the context of a respiratory infection is a particularly attractive application, because the highly stable VHHs can be nebulized and administered via an inhaler directly to the site of infection. Moreover, because of their stability after prolonged storage, VHHs could be stockpiled as therapeutic treatment options in case of an epidemic.
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