The University of California has come up with a nasal spray, named “AeroNabs” which could save people from contracting the virus, better than the PPE. This spray can also be inhaled and either way, it can effectively prevent COVID-19.
AeroNabs has nanobodies in them which are small bodies like antibodies. These nanobodies are typically found the blood of many species such as llamas and alpacas.
Interestingly, the antibodies inside this nasal spray aren’t taken from the animals. They are from the synthetic sources and manually engineered to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19.
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Medical experts believe that the immunity, if substantially high can prevent COVID-19 to infect human targets. AeroNabs follows the same formula but it is not proven through the clinical trials yet. So there is no definite answer to how well it can protect a person.
But the AeroNabs formula still needs to be proven in clinical trials, to see whether it really can prevent a person from actually getting infected.
Dr. Peter Walter from UCSF is the co-inventor of this nasal spray. He says that If proven through the trials, this spray may provide better safety to a person than wearing any protective gear such as PPE.
Among all wearable forms of the safety equipment, AeroNabs could be a better product than many. It is small, easy to use, and more handy than many other products. This new spray, AeroNabs doesn’t have to be released into the blood. It could be directly exposed to the lungs or through the nasal cavity and it will start working.
He also said that people who can not get their hands on the coronavirus vaccine, accessing this nasal spray AeroNabs could be possible. It could save them to get the virus and prevent disease.
The nanoparticles are not a new discovery, they were first created in the late 1980s inside a Belgian research lab. Ever since they are recovered, scientists are working on using them to neutralize many pathogens including the novel coronavirus.
There are many studies on the nanobodies explaining their role in killing other pathogens, one of which is the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). As this virus is very similar to the novel coronavirus, the researchers believe the same nanobodies can prevent COVID-19 as well.
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The nanobodies work like the antibodies that are created after the human body is exposed to the virus. Once the virus enters the body, it attacks the pathogen or marks it so that other immune cells can identify it. keeping this in regard, developing the nano-bodies to kill coronavirus made with synthetic sources can be a great help to introduce target centered therapies.
Because of their small size, nanobodies could revolutionize the medications. It is easy to manage them, change them, and modify them. Although nothing can replicate the human immune system nanobodies have given new hope to people who are frustrated over the on-going pandemic.
The complete findings of this study are published online at bioRxiv, and currently, it has not been reviewed.
