Winter_(llama)

Winter (llama)

Winter (llama)

Llama used in COVID virus research

Winter (born 2015 or 2016) is a female llama who lives on a research farm near Ghent, Belgium and is notable for her role in award-winning research on the SARS-CoV2 virus.[1]

In 2016 Jason McLellan and Daniel Wrapp chose the nine-month-old Winter as the llama they would inject with stabilized spike proteins from SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV viruses, hoping that she would produce antibodies or the smaller nanobodies to further their aim "to isolate a single antibody that could neutralize all coronaviruses".[1]

Camelids, including llamas, produce nanobodies, which are a form of antibody about half the size of human antibodies and are very stable and so can be easily manipulated.[2][3]

When the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was released in January 2020, scientists worked quickly to test whether any of the antibodies that they had previously isolated against the original SARS-CoV (taken from Winter) could also bind and neutralize SARS-CoV-2. They discovered that one of these nanobodies, which they had characterized using the Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source, might be effective against SARS-CoV-2. This nanobody — called VHH72 — is now under development as a treatment for COVID-19. Jason McLellan and Daniel Wrapp received a 2020 Golden Goose Award for this research.[1][2]

As of 2021 Llama Winter lives at LABIOMISTA, the arts and culture park of artist Koen Vanmechelen in Genk, Limburg, Belgium, where people can visit and learn more about her.[4]

References

  1. [1]
    Swenson, Haylie (December 2020). "2020 Golden Goose Award: A Llama Named Winter". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  2. [2]
    Andre Salle's (9 March 2021). "Why the lovable llama might be a secret weapon against COVID-19". Argonne National Laboratory.
  3. [3]
    Kramer, Jillian (6 May 2020). "Hoping Llamas Will Become Coronavirus Heroes". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  4. [4]
    Vanmecheln, Kurt. "Winter's Kilobytes × we (Wk×W) | LABIOMISTA". www.labiomista.be. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

Further reading

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Why the lovable llama might be a secret weapon against COVID-19. United States Department of Energy.

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