Fighting covid with alpaca nanobodies

[TheVat]

"With the help of advanced laboratory techniques, we were able to identify a panel of nanobodies that very effectively neutralized several variants of SARS-CoV-2," says Gerald McInerney, professor at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Karolinska Institutet, and joint senior author of both studies.

Despite the roll-out of vaccines and antivirals, the need for effective therapeutics against severe COVID-19 infection remains high. Nanobodies -- which are fragments of antibodies that occur naturally in camelids and can be adapted for humans -- are promising therapeutic candidates as they offer several advantages over conventional antibodies. For example, they have favourable biochemical properties and are easy to produce cost-effectively at scale.

In the now published studies, the labs of Gerald McInerney and Ben Murrell, also at MTC, identify several potent nanobodies derived from an alpaca immunised with SARS-CoV-2 antigens.

 

Nontechnical version:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220325185907.htm

Technical version:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abm0220

[zapatos]

Our alpacas! 😄

Left to right: Elliot, Radar, Samson.

 

IMG_1086.heic

Edited March 28, 2022 by zapatos

[StringJunky]

3 hours ago, zapatos said:

Our alpacas! 😄

Left to right: Elliot, Radar, Samson.

 

IMG_1086.heic 558.67 kB · 7 downloads

Arr! What's the pecking order?

[zapatos]

6 hours ago, StringJunky said:

Arr! What's the pecking order?

Radar is the smallest by about 40# and it the one who always stirs things up. Alpacas have small fighting teeth (two top, two bottom, pointing back in the mouth) and about the only thing they can do with them is bite ears. Radar put a two inch split Elliot's ear. Mostly though they just hang out together. Very gentle animals with distinct personalities. I let my three year old granddaughter walk amongst them feeding them by hand.

[StringJunky]

24 minutes ago, zapatos said:

Radar is the smallest by about 40# and it the one who always stirs things up. Alpacas have small fighting teeth (two top, two bottom, pointing back in the mouth) and about the only thing they can do with them is bite ears. Radar put a two inch split Elliot's ear. Mostly though they just hang out together. Very gentle animals with distinct personalities. I let my three year old granddaughter walk amongst them feeding them by hand.

Seeing your post, I had a look online  and they appear to have a nice nature. The article, by an alpaca farmer, said you should never have less than three because having a group hierachy is important to their well-being. Is that why you have three?

[TheVat]

I had trouble making out the nanobodies in your pic, @zapatos, but they are cute.  Though I can see the Radar resemblance, I think the others look more like Colonel Potter and Charles Emerson Winchester.  

[zapatos]

37 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Seeing your post, I had a look online  and they appear to have a nice nature. The article, by an alpaca farmer, said you should never have less than three because having a group hierachy is important to their well-being. Is that why you have three?

That is why we have three! We originally asked about buying two but the woman we bought them from would not sell us fewer than three. When they get stressed they stand around and hum. One of their better features is that they use a communal spot for relieving themselves, making it easier to clean up and less likely you'll step in anything.

26 minutes ago, TheVat said:

Though I can see the Radar resemblance, I think the others look more like Colonel Potter and Charles Emerson Winchester.  

Har! Those would have been good names too. The names came with them though. They are registered when born just like show dogs.

[StringJunky]

9 minutes ago, zapatos said:

That is why we have three! We originally asked about buying two but the woman we bought them from would not sell us fewer than three. When they get stressed they stand around and hum. One of their better features is that they use a communal spot for relieving themselves, making it easier to clean up and less likely you'll step in anything.

Har! Those would have been good names too. The names came with them though. They are registered when born just like show dogs.

Have you made an alpaca jumper yet? Have you seen the price of alpaca jumpers! £150-200 here. Wow.

[CharonY]

2 hours ago, zapatos said:

Radar is the smallest by about 40# and it the one who always stirs things up. Alpacas have small fighting teeth (two top, two bottom, pointing back in the mouth) and about the only thing they can do with them is bite ears. Radar put a two inch split Elliot's ear. Mostly though they just hang out together. Very gentle animals with distinct personalities. I let my three year old granddaughter walk amongst them feeding them by hand.

It is always the little ones, isn't it? Could be an universal trait. I have heard that they also create hierarchies with other animals, if there are not enough alpacas around (one was apparently top sheep).

[zapatos]

2 hours ago, StringJunky said:

Have you made an alpaca jumper yet? Have you seen the price of alpaca jumpers! £150-200 here. Wow.

We haven't but we've been collecting the fiber, and my wife just bought a spinning wheel. We may also send some fiber off to have something made rather than doing it ourselves. They are also due for a shearing next month which is a fun event (for us, not the alpacas!).

2 hours ago, CharonY said:

It is always the little ones, isn't it? Could be an universal trait. I have heard that they also create hierarchies with other animals, if there are not enough alpacas around (one was apparently top sheep).

It is the little ones. And Radar, while being a trouble maker, is also a big baby. If I go out to the barn in a different coat it takes him 10 minutes to decide if it is safe to come in to the barn with me.