Researchers at Tulane University might have discovered how bats are able to carry so many viral diseases without getting sick themselves. Associate Professor Hannah Frank led the study and says the largest family of bats has special genes to produce antibodies that fight off pathogens.
“These Vespertilionidae bats have two copies of the genes that make that. And every other mammal; every bird, reptile and frog we’ve looked at, only had one. That’s pretty nifty,” Frank noted.
She says one gene system develops generally effective antibodies while the other recognizes and targets specific pathogens.
“Hopefully, this tells us a little bit about how bats are able to fight their diseases and why they’re so good at not getting sick,” Frank said.
Frank says understanding how bats coexist with viruses can help scientists understand immune systems in other species as well as viral development. She says numerous advancements could be made, thanks to this discovery.
“Maybe there’s something that the bats are doing that we can mimic for human treatments, or maybe there’s something about the way the bats are responding to these antigens or forming their own immune responses that will tell us about when they’re most dangerous,” Frank explained.
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