St Andrews University research finds bats can tolerate coronaviruses without becoming ill

Research carried out by St Andrews University has found bats can tolerate coronaviruses and other viruses without becoming ill.

The flying mammals are of great interest to medical advancement, as their immune systems and unique viral tolerances can provide valuable insights for the development of new therapies.

They are also known to carry numerous viruses, including those that are transmissible to humans – such as coronaviruses. However, bats do not show any symptoms of disease when infected with such viruses.

The study shows the animal has more genetic adaptations in immune genes than other mammals.

Scientists identified the ISG15 gene as being a key component to their immune system, helping reduce he production of SARS-CoV-2 by up to 90%.

It is hoped the findings could help to develop new medical approaches to combat viral diseases.

Researchers from over 60 countries are taking part in “Bat1K” project in a bid to create new high-quality genomes of bats to analyse these adaptations.

Founder of the Bat1K project and St Andrew’s University professor, Sonja Vernes, said: “It’s very exciting to see such impactful multidisciplinary science coming out of the partnerships formed through Bat1K. This work perfectly illustrates the potential of studying bats and their genomes to inform both fundamental evolutionary biology and translational medical research.

“These findings shed light on how bats evolved to combat viral infections could give us new ways to prevent illness caused by pathogens like coronavirus in humans”