Gippsland alpacas are playing a vital part in finding a treatment for COVID-19.
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| Gippsland alpacas are playing a vital part in finding a treatment for COVID-19 |
Melbourne researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have injected alpacas in Bairnsdale with a fragment of the virus.
"We are interested in the alpacas in Gippsland because they make a particularly special antibody which is very small called the nanobody, because it is very small, unique and sticky they have very unique ways of stopping the virus from entering cells," Associate professor at the Walter and Eliza Hall institute, Wai-Hong Tham, said.
"We have immunised alpacas with a non-infectious version of the protein on the surface of the virus called spike, and spike is special for the virus because it's the protein the virus uses to enter cells," she said.
Scientists at the Australian Synchrotron are studying the molecular structure of the nanobodies. They'll then extract them and use them as a form of treatment.
"It basically lets us shine this very small beam of x-ray light onto the very delicate protein crystal and then be able to see what is going on right down at the atomic level," professor Michael James said.Experts believe their method could be beneficial in aged care settings.
"Rather than depending on the immune response that is governed by a vaccine delivery, you actually deliver the antibodies directly that are effective at blocking the virus entry,' Wai-Hong Tham said.
Researchers say the project with the alpacas will not create a vaccine against COVID-19, but rather will work as an alternative form of prevention or treatment.
"Hopefully with the outputs of their blood and their genetic material, their genes for unique antibody production, these guys might hold the key to part of the coronavirus puzzle," Bairnsdale vet Andrew Padula said.
"The most important thing is to deliver something that is potent, but most importantly something that is safe for human use and that takes a bit of time in terms of doing the clinical testing," Wai-Hong Tham said.
Scientists said if they find something that works well pre-clinically, they hope to look at starting human clinical trials next year.
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