How does it work?
A gift that keeps on giving The immune system is constantly creating new antibodies. A spin-off company based in Bellinzona is using them to produce antiviral drugs. Journalist: Florian Fisch Infographic: ikonaut
1. Survivors produce antibodies After successfully overcoming an infectious disease – such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which can lead to severe pneumonia – survivors’ immune systems develop effective antibodies. Humabs Biomed, a spin-off company of the Istituto di Ricerca in Biomedicina (IRB) in Bellinzona, fishes these antibodies out of the blood of survivors. 2. Cells are immortalised The white blood corpuscles that produce the antibodies (memory B cells) are extracted from the blood. A biotechnical method patented by the IRB renders them ‘immortal’, after which they can reproduce indefinitely.
3. Good antibodies are selected Which of the many hundreds of thousands of memory cells actually produce the right antibodies and prevent a virus from flooding the host cells with its DNA? The answer is provided by chemical light reactions in tiny test vessels. If they stay dark, then the antibodies are effective.
4. Production via genetic engineering The appropriate gene of the victorious blood corpuscle is isolated, adjusted slightly, and then planted in cells from mammals for the purposes of industrial production.
5. Injecting antibodies As with any treatment, this method will have to be subjected to clinical tests in humans in order to determine its safety and efficacy. At any rate, antibodies trump chemical substances, as they remain in the blood longer and cause fewer side effects, because they almost only ever fix themselves to their targets. Furthermore, human antibodies hardly ever provoke allergic reactions.
Swiss National Science Foundation – Swiss Academies: Horizons No. 108
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