March 07, 2019
The secret to the bat’s ability to live healthy lives, despite hosting numerous viruses that are extremely to humans and other animals, is their ability to limit inflammation in their bodies. The researchers discovered that bats do not react to infection with the typical inflammatory response. In humans, this inflammatory response has been shows to contribute to aging, age related diseases as well as the damage caused by infectious diseases. This research suggests that bats are not better at fighting infection, but rather have a higher tolerance to infection. This research may lead to breakthroughs in the way we treat human diseases in the future; a move from our current anti-disease approach to a more bat-like anti-disease approach.
Source: Duke NUS Medical School
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