Coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) cause serious and often fatal disease in people, but bats seem unharmed.
Veterinary microbiology PhD candidate Arinjay Banerjee and his professor Vikram Misra have now found some clues.
Coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) cause serious and often fatal disease in people, but bats seem unharmed.
Veterinary microbiology PhD candidate Arinjay Banerjee and his professor Vikram Misra have now found some clues.
In an article published this week in Nature’s Scientific Reports, they conclude that unlike with human cells, bat cells actively suppress inflammation when they are infected with viruses.
“This knowledge might lead to new therapies for slowing down disease progression in humans and might even reduce death rates in the future,” said Misra, but he cautions further research is needed.
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Photo via University of Saskatchewan.
