Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
The key to immunity against COVID-19 and its variants could come from llama’s blood, according to new research.
A study, led by researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, reports that immune particles found in the blood of a llama could provide strong protection against COVID-19 and its variants, as well as a wide range of SARS-like viruses. The study suggests it could even protect against SARS-CoV-2. which causes COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-1, which was behind the SARS outbreak in 2003.
The research, published in the journal Cell Reports on Tuesday, suggests that these particles, called nanobodies, could be used to develop a fast-acting antiviral treatment that can be inhaled.
Llamas and similar animals, such as camels and alpacas, have unique immune systems, because their antibodies are smaller than other species’, which makes them more stable, researchers said. Because they are small and stable, it is also easier for these particles to bond to diseases targets inside the body.
Researches found that because the particles were small and easy to bind, they could be formed into a kind of daisy chain that is able to catch any viruses that attempt to escape the antibodies by mutating.
“We learned that the tiny size of these nanobodies gives them a crucial advantage against a rapidly mutating virus,” co-author Ian Wilson, a professor of structural biology at Scripps Research in La Jolla, Calif., said in a press release. “Specifically, it allows them to penetrate more of the recesses, nooks and crannies of the virus surface, and thus bind to multiple regions to prevent the virus from escaping and mutating.”
As part of the study, the team immunized a llama named Wally with the virus spike of SARS-CoV-2, which in human bodies would latch on to cells and infect them. After repeated immunizations, the researchers found Wally began to produce nanobodies that recognized SARS-CoV-2, as well as what the researchers called “super-immunity” against an array of other coronaviruses.
The researchers suggest with this structural information, they could possibly develop a molecule that could be used in an inhaled treatment or spray.
“While more research is needed, we believe that the broad protection, ultrapotent nanobodies we were able to isolate in the lab can be harnessed for use in humans,” said lead author Yi Shi, an associate professor of pharmacological sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.