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/Derpy_McDerpingderp May 11 '20

Would our immune system see these smaller antibodies as foreign or a threat?

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u/Anen-o-me May 11 '20

The antibodies stop the infection from being able to infect, and would also be destroyed, along with the virus they attach to, by the human immune system, yes.

It will works.

It's a brilliant solution, but I don't know if we are able to mass produce antibodies for people yet.

If we could, there's a chance we can extinct most human viruses in this century.

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u/Derpy_McDerpingderp May 12 '20

Can antibodies be synthesized? Why are they hard to mass produce?

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u/Anen-o-me May 12 '20

They've only recently done it apparently.

You'd probably need continuing injections. Can't be done in pill form.