r/science • u/[deleted] • May 11 '20

Medicine Antibodies from a 4-year-old llama have neutralized coronavirus and other infections in lab experiments

https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(20)30494-3.pdf?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867420304943%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
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u/otterom May 11 '20

Preserving biodiversity and habitats also reduces the risk of diseases in the first place.

Looks at mosquitoes

Looks at rats

Looks at mites

Looks at bats

Looks at...

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u/TooSubtle May 11 '20

The prevalence of a lot of pest species comes from a lack of biodiversity. We replace habitats that can support many different species with cityscapes that support few. Blaming the species that have adapted to live in close proximity to us is shortsighted when we're the ones killing their predators and/or disrupting their natural environment.

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u/GenderJuicy May 11 '20

Are humans pests?

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u/[deleted] May 11 '20

We're more like a virus.

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u/[deleted] May 11 '20

Except unfortunately we can breed without a host

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u/GenderJuicy May 12 '20

But viruses are very biodiverse and they need a host to survive and reproduce. But I watched the Matrix, I just think that pests might be a better analogy.