How a Reading llama is helping with coronavirus research
Arla at the University of Reading has been helping scientists.
A University of Reading llama called Arla is helping scientists in the race to find treatments for Covid-19.
She is part of a herd that have been providing very small antibodies known an nanobodies.
Blood taken from Arla is send to the Francis Crick Institute where it is studied to find ways of blocking the spread of coronavirus in infected humans.
The llamas are looked after by expert handlers working at the University of Reading.
Prof Gary Stephens from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Reading said:
“Nanobody technology is one of the most exciting new developments in medical research, and llamas play a crucial role in these studies as they are one of the very animals from which nanobodies can be produced.
“We’re pleased that the University of Reading is using its combined expertise in drug research and animal husbandry to keep a llama herd, and help the scientific effort to develop a treatment for coronavirus.
“The big benefit of using nanobodies produced by llamas is that they may be able to target the virus more effectively than other types of antibodies and are less prone to be attacked by the human body’s natural defences.”
Svend Kjaer, deputy head of structural biology at the Francis Crick Institute, said:
“Using just a small blood donation from Arla, we’ve created a biological toolkit for studying SARS-CoV-2. We’ve been able to make nanobodies that neutralise different virus variants and better understand the mechanisms of infection and disease.
"These tools are being used by scientists throughout the Crick on a wide variety of projects from determining immunity to new variants to capturing changes in the virus structure during infection.”
Arla’s herdmate Fifi has also been helping scientists at the Rosalind Franklin Institute to use nanobodies which also stick to the spike protein of the coronavirus.
Every injection or blood sample is considered one animal research ‘procedure’, regulated by a government licence and subject to inspection by Home Office expert officials.
Such procedures are considered ‘mild’ on a scale of severity to the animal.