Alaska Llamas Blog

Llama antibodies show more and more promise as a cure for Corona Virus- Inspired by llamas’ unique antibodies, scientists create a potent anti-coronavirus molecule NBC News - Llamas serve surprising role in coronavirus antibody treatment Llamas hold great promise in the fight against the coronavirus and this has been getting more and more attention lately, especially in mainstream media.  Llamas have something most animals don't. "This strange property of producing these small simple antibodies," said John Aitchison of Seattle Children's Research Institute. It does not make llamas sick, but does allow them to naturally produce antibodies called nanobodies, which are collected in blood samples. The next step is to isolate specific nanobodies in the lab, find ones that work to combat COVID-19 and produce them in bacteria. The idea, eventually, is to make a treatment for coronavirus patients that may be administered deep in the lungs to keep COVID-19 from spreading