AUSTIN, Texas — More than four years after COVID-19 became a global pandemic, a group of Texas researchers has found a new way to help counteract this deadly disease.
Engineers and scientists at the University of Texas at Austin recently discovered and isolated an antibody, called SC27, that helps neutralize all variants of the virus that produces coronaviruses like COVID.
This antibody was located in an individual patient, and it can now be used on a larger level to help the virus from spreading further.
How does SC27 work?
SC27 is a plasma antibody, which essentially means it halts COVID from connecting itself to cells.
COVID is made partially of a spike protein, which typically latches onto cells and infects a person's body. By using an antibody like SC27, this process can be halted altogether.
UT's researchers were the first people to decode this spike protein's structure as a whole, separating the antibody using Ig-seq technology.
"The discovery of SC27, and other antibodies like it in the future, will help us better protect the population against current COVID variants," researcher and McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering research assistant professor Jason Lavinder said.
The team also learned the best way to stay better protected from infections might be by pairing them with vaccinations.
Looking forward, one of the researchers also hopes to create a universal vaccination. The group is currently awaiting the approval of a patent on this newly discovered antibody, helping aid this process further.
