It has shown much promise in a mice model, and involves targeting hidden notches at the viral binding sites. This is all on an almost unimaginably small scale. No big chain, honkin' complex chemical model, no.
This is a bit like dropping the tiniest dollop of "Super Glue" -- into a huge vat -- and seeing that the glue only binds onto the bad lil' critters, and in only a tiny lil' back alley of their structures. But that binder action prevents them from replicating across much larger human blood cells. Yep -- it seems to gum up the viral replication process rather nicely. Here's the latest:
. . .Ebola virus, one of the deadliest pathogens, has a fatality rate of about 50%, posing a serious threat to global health and safety.
To address this challenge, researchers at the University of Minnesota and the Midwest Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Center have developed the first nanobody-based inhibitors targeting the Ebola virus. . . .
Nanobodies are tiny antibodies derived from animals like alpacas. Their small size allows them to access areas of the virus and human tissues that larger antibodies cannot. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the team created nine nanobodies to fight COVID-19. Now, they've used this technology to develop two new nanobody inhibitors for Ebola: Nanosota-EB1 and Nanosota-EB2.
The nanobodies work in different ways to stop Ebola. The virus hides the part it uses to attach to human cells under a protective layer. Nanosota-EB1 prevents this layer from opening, blocking the virus from attaching to cells. Nanosota-EB2 targets a part of the virus essential for breaking into cells, stopping its spread. In lab tests, Nanosota-EB2 was especially effective, greatly improving survival rates in Ebola-infected mice. . . .
Onward -- grinning; what a time to be alive, indeed. Pandemic / biotech research is ripping ahead apace, as well as interstellar / space sciences -- day by day! Be excellent to one another.
नमस्ते
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