Bats are bizarre but captivating. The problem arises when bats knock down the attention of the press. Bats are usually blamed for lethal diseases such as Ebola or COVID-19, as well as the recent NEPA virus epidemic in India.
However, we don’t locate caves filled with bats that died from the Coronavirus and Ebola. Although viral infections may be fatal to humans, bats appear immune.
Bats are afflicted with diseases that kill humans, but they rarely become sick. They hardly develop cancer. They’re also the only living mammals capable of true flight and have exceptionally long lifespans. Some live human equivalents of well over 200 years, depending on their size.
Scientists uncovered the incredible genomic sequences they had. It indicated that bats have distinct immune systems.
It will assist in comprehending how bats handle viruses despite becoming ill, which could aid in the discovery of new medications for viruses like COVID-19. If we could duplicate bats’ immunological responses to viruses, which allow them to live with them, we might be capable of discovering a cure.
With a lot of possible deadly viruses spreading among them, why don’t the bats get killed by chronic diseases?
Bats can strike the right balance between viral infection prevention and an overwhelming allergic reaction, which may kill their hosts as well. Perhaps the explanation lies in their distinctive feature across mammals, which is the flight mechanism.
The physical needs of flight have affected the bat’s immune response. Flight leads bats to have higher metabolic processes and boosts the core temperature of their bodies by roughly 38 °C. Thus, bats are frequently in a condition that humans would classify as feverish. Researchers believe this could be an internal process that helps bats tolerate viruses.
Its heartbeat can reach over 1,000 pulses per minute. For the majority of terrestrial mammals, these are warning signals that would result in death. However, bats endure it every day. Bats have evolved specific immune systems to cope with the strain of flight. Their bodies produce substances that mammals in general do not have, which aid in cell repair. And their bodies do not respond to infections, preventing them from becoming unwell from the numerous viruses they carry.
Thus, the immune system’s reaction to a virus causes illness rather than the virus itself.
Researchers from Singapore and China discovered a mutation in the genome that controls the body’s response to viruses in bats following a viral infection. The alteration affects a gene known for being the stimulator of interferon genes (STING). It is present in all animals and plays an important role in initiating an inflammatory reaction after a viral illness.
The mutation found in bats has been demonstrated to inhibit the creation of certain inflammation-causing enzymes known as interferons during a viral illness.
Some scientists believe that discovering an effective treatment for COVID-19 or malignancy in bats will be difficult and may take years. Bat biology is a relatively new field of research. Only a handful of laboratories in the world have facilities for live bat nests to study.
It is possible that other findings will be uncovered, and every new bit of data will improve our knowledge of bats, viruses, and our human systems of immunity.
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Writer,
Sadi Reza
Intern, Content Writing Department
Youth School for Social Entrepreneurs.