by Cheryl Marly

Created on: January 26, 2009

While it's not the very latest innovation (this first came to surface at the end of 2006), scientists know that llama blood is special. It's not the blood, but the antibodies in the blood. They have an unusual molecular structure that could quickly detect biological terrorist weapons.

Antibodies are currently used to warn of chemicals, as well as used in medicine to fight diseases like cancer. Typical antibodies of mammals are Y-shaped compounds, and are composed of two protein chains, a heavy one and a light one. That makes them structurally complex, with complex binding methods. The heavy one usually has more than double the amino acids than the light one. And while these doubled proteins are capable of fighting foreign proteins in mammals, it's been tough in the field of biosensors because they cannot stand high heats.

The short end of the antibodies bear the CDR, or complementary determining region. That's where they bind substances that are foreign. However, in llamas (camels and sharks), the CDR's are only about 10% of the size of regular human antibodies, and to the delight of scientists, llamas don't have the light protein chain. Since the CDR is so small, they are easier to engineer than other antibodies, not to mention far less expensive.

Now, to the special part. Since llama blood has antibodies that are just single-domain, meaning that they do not contain the light protein chain, the molecules can stay functional, even in 200 degree Fahrenheit heat; and they can cycle themselves repeatedly if they do happen to unfold. This is a very important part of the whole idea. Soldiers could actually carry these biosensors in the field to know of a bio-threat.

Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory have created a massive library of over a billion single-domain antibodies to bind to all kinds of antigens. It's a great thing because they have longer shelf life. By using these antibodies, they could make sensors to detect any bio-weapon you could think of - and then create antibodies that would bind to new threats, were they to come up.

The bottom line is that emerging biological threats on the world could be stopped by employing antibodies against them. Though genetic manipulation is required, this could be a break-through for mankind because of the quickness and inexpensiveness. Not only would it help in war, but also in desperately poor environments, like parts of Africa.

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