--- title: "Scientists Say Llama Antibodies Could Be Key to Defeating COVID" description: "Not only can they serve as entertainment during a particularly boring Zoom conference call, llamas may hold the key in the fight against the coronavirus as well. According to a new study published in the journal Cell on Tuesday by an international team of researchers, antibodies found in the blood of llamas were able to […]" date: "2020-05-06" modified: "2020-05-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/llama-antibodies-covid" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "antibodies" - "antibody treatment" - "coronavirus" - "covid19" --- # Scientists Say Llama Antibodies Could Be Key to Defeating COVID ![According to a new study by an international team of researchers, antibodies found in the blood of llamas were able to stave off coronavirus infections.]() *\Image: Tim Coppens\* Scientists say lamas could help defeat the coronavirus. 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. "This is one of the first antibodies known to neutralize SARS-CoV-2," Jason McLellan, from the University of Texas at Austin and co-author of the study, said in [a statement](). The researchers built on previous research from four years ago in which they found that the antibodies from a then 9-month-old llama named Winter were able to neutralize both SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV viruses over six weeks. Luckily, the antibodies from Winter — who's now four years old — also staved off SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Surprisingly, this isn't the first time llamas have been used in antibody research, as [*The New York Times* reports](). Llama antibodies have been used in work related to HIV and infleunza, where they helped discover promising therapies. Thanks to the llamas' antibodies' small size, they can connect with different parts of the virus more easily. "The binding of this antibody to spike is able to prevent attachment and entry, which effectively neutralizes the virus," Daniel Wrapp, Dartmouth Ph.D. candidate and co-author, explained in the statement. Scientists are hopeful a treatment plan for the newly infected in the form of antibody therapies is particularly promising. "Vaccines have to be given a month or two before infection to provide protection," McLellan said in the statement. "With antibody therapies, you're directly giving somebody the protective antibodies and so, immediately after treatment, they should be protected." "The antibodies could also be used to treat somebody who is already sick to lessen the severity of the disease," McLellan added. "There is still a lot of work to do to try to bring this into the clinic," Xavier Saelens, a molecular virologist at Ghent University in Belgium and co-author, told the *Times*. "If it works, llama Winter deserves a statue." ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()