The research actually started back in 2016, when they were studying the effects of the llama antibodies in treating SARS and MERS — also diseases caused by coronaviruses. Tim Coppens Winter the llama, who still lives on a farm in the Belgian countryside, is shown in a file photo. The llama antibodies are small enough to bind to the virus’s spike and block it from infecting cells, stopping it in its tracks. As Bill Nye once said, “science rules.” People are loving that Winter the llama could be the key to all of this. Llama nanobodies have been used in the past to develop treatments for AIDS and influenza.

Source: Huffington Post May 08, 2020 19:07 UTC