How bats stay healthy
Check out this YouTube video that explains how bats stay healthy even when infected by viruses such as SARS and Covid. Despite the yuck factor, bats are very important in the ecosystem:
Tag Archive for ‘Covid’
Could the ocean hold a cure for Covid-19?
In searching for treatments for Covid-19, researchers discovered that a cancer drug called Aplidin (aka: Plitidepsin), originally isolated from Mediterranean sea squirts, was up to 27.5 times more effective at killing the virus in cell cultures than the FDA-approved drug Remdesivir! Importantly, it was also shown to be effective at preventing the virus from replicating in mice. Sources: Youtube KM White, R Rosales, S Yildiz, T Kehrer, L Miorin, E […]
Take Time for Activity Snacks
There went another day spent sitting at my computer in virtual meetings with easily accessible snacks in the kitchen nearby. Okay, granted this is not a comparative physiology topic. But it is something many of us can relate to in this age of Covid-19. In a new study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers explored what happens when people seek out so-called “activity snacks” instead of the salty […]
Llamas to the rescue?
A couple years back, we talked about how nanobodies created by camelids, such as alpacas and llamas, may lead to the discovery of new disease-fighting drugs. Aptly named, nanobodies are tiny pieces of antibodies that can bind to target proteins more easily than larger antibodies. Researchers in labs around the world are now exploring llama nanobodies for the treatment of Covid-19. Check out the video below released this month by […]
Feline drug may lead to new Covid-19 treatment
Researchers at Anivive, a pet health drug discovery and commercialization company, are seeking approval to test a new drug for Covid-19 that was originally developed to treat feline intestinal coronavirus. Similar to Covid-19, feline coronavirus is very contagious. In some cats, the virus mutates and leads to feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), which is currently the top cause of death for young cats and kittens (~700,000 cats annually). The new drug, […]
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 