The bats are home to tons of fatal viruses but do not fall sick. Scientists may have discovered why

Today, most scientists believe that the COVVI-19 pandemic started on a Chinese wet market, the coronavirus in question probably from a bat. It would not be surprising, given that many viruses have been linked to bats, including Ebola, Marburg, Nipah and Hendra viruses, as well as coronaviruses like the Sras-1 and the Seas. But bats do not fall ill. In fact, the reason why so many bats are full of all kinds of viruses is that their strong immune system can keep pathogens at a distance.

However, until recently, scientists did not fully understand why bats are so good for hosting pathogens who do not seem to hurt them. A recent study in the journal Nature resolves part of this mystery by decomposing exactly how bats can live specifically with coronavirus and not show symptoms.

“These defense mechanisms are linked to their immune system-on the one hand, the immune system for bats makes it more difficult for viruses to reproduce during infection”, the co-author of the study, the Dr Sonja C. Vernes, University of St. Andrews School of School of Biology, said Salon. “On the other hand, bats suffer less from inflammation generally caused by the immune system of an animal that can cause so much trouble after infection.”

The authors of the study learned this by sequencing high-quality coronavirus genomes of 10 new species of bats, resulting from resources made available via an international research consortium known as the BAT1K project. Thanks to their detailed analysis, scientists have discovered that bats have more adaptations in their immune genes and at a more frequent pace, than other mammals.

In addition to explaining how the immune systems of the Bats follow coronavirus, and perhaps all viruses, research also highlights the evolutionary history of bats. Genetic degradation indicates that the species has enough chance to be Chiropter Having special immune systems due to a common ancestor that had an unexpected number of immune genes with these beneficial signatures.

“Some of these changes seem to have taken place at the start of the evolution, which suggests that the evolution of their superpowing immune system could be closely linked to the evolution of their ability to fly,” said Vernes.

By learning more about how bats protect themselves from viruses and other pathogens, humans can develop better medications for our own body.

“The changes found in bat genomes give us exciting antiviral goals to explore,” said Vernes. “This could lead to medical breakthroughs that help us protect us from future viral pandemics. These results also help us to understand the interaction between viruses and other animals such as bats – an important step to prevent future pandemics. »»