Vermont Public Radio
One pathway showing some early promise involves llamas. A new study shows that antibodies from llamas can neutralize the virus that causes COVID-19.
Daniel Wrapp, the co-author of that study, is a graduate student affiliated with Dartmouth College and the University of Texas at Austin. He spoke to Mitch Wertlieb about his research. Their interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Daniel Wrapp: In the early 90s it was discovered that camelids, which is a group that includes llamas, alpacas, camels and a couple other animals, produced a specialized class of antibodies which are called nanobodies. The reason they're called that is because they're about half the size of the conventional antibodies that you and I would produce. And because of that smaller size, they have enhanced stability and they're also able to wedge themselves into crevices that larger antibodies wouldn't otherwise be able to access.
So in 2016, in collaboration with our colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium, we vaccinated a 4-year-old llama, named Winter, with the coronavirus spike proteins from the viruses that caused the MERS and SARS outbreaks. From the llama we were able to isolate two really potently neutralizing antibodies, one directed against MERS, one directed against SARS. And we were in the process of writing up these results when the current pandemic broke. There were no active coronavirus outbreaks when we started this research. We were just hoping to learn more about how these proteins functioned.
One pathway showing some early promise involves llamas. A new study shows that antibodies from llamas can neutralize the virus that causes COVID-19.
Daniel Wrapp, the co-author of that study, is a graduate student affiliated with Dartmouth College and the University of Texas at Austin. He spoke to Mitch Wertlieb about his research. Their interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Daniel Wrapp: In the early 90s it was discovered that camelids, which is a group that includes llamas, alpacas, camels and a couple other animals, produced a specialized class of antibodies which are called nanobodies. The reason they're called that is because they're about half the size of the conventional antibodies that you and I would produce. And because of that smaller size, they have enhanced stability and they're also able to wedge themselves into crevices that larger antibodies wouldn't otherwise be able to access.
So in 2016, in collaboration with our colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium, we vaccinated a 4-year-old llama, named Winter, with the coronavirus spike proteins from the viruses that caused the MERS and SARS outbreaks. From the llama we were able to isolate two really potently neutralizing antibodies, one directed against MERS, one directed against SARS. And we were in the process of writing up these results when the current pandemic broke. There were no active coronavirus outbreaks when we started this research. We were just hoping to learn more about how these proteins functioned.
