The entire world is in a race to find the a cure or a treatment for the COVID-19. And while some trials are still ongoing, the Dutch scientists have claimed to have found an antibody that “offers the potential to prevent and/or treat Covid-19”, according to the research published in Nature Communications, and the authors.
But what does this mean?
The fact is that this antibody has been found in tests conducted in the laboratory. This antibody has the potential to stop the new coronavirus infecting cells in laboratory tests has been identified by researchers in the Netherlands. However, the fact remains that it has not been tested on humans or even animals yet. Might make you wonder how this research was conducted then.
Researchers from Utrecht University and the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam injected cells of “humanised mice” with purified versions of the spike proteins used by different coronaviruses, including the ones that cause SARS and MERS, to infect cells. This process led the cells to produce various antibodies. One of those antibodies stopped both pathogens (from SARS and MERS) from infecting cells.
However, the fact remains that there is a long way to go before we can find out if this antibody can even be used a treatment against the Coronavirus.
“Simply because we have found an antibody which neutralises a virus in a group of cells in a lab Petri dish doesn’t mean that we can expect the same response in patients,” said James Gill, honorary clinical lecturer at Warwick Medical School.
But he described the discovery as “very promising”.