Indonesian Researchers in Spain Discover Antibodies to Avert COVID-19 Virus

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Researcher from the National Innovation Research Agency (BRIN) Yudhi Nugraha and his team in Madrid, Spain, discovered antibodies dubbed Spikebodies that work to prevent infection with the SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the world in 2020. 

“Our next strategic goal is to utilize this nanobody technology to prevent all types of viruses by adapting to structural differences in the key proteins of transmission,” Yudhi said as quoted from the official BRIN website on Saturday, April 20.

The research team used Cryogenic Electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM) technology developed between 2021 and 2023. According to Yudhi, this technology can determine the structure of viral machinery at molecular resolution. “By understanding the protein form of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, we can develop strategies to combat the virus that caused the global pandemic,” he explained.

Yudhi said that Spikebodies have been shown to have the potential to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study results were published in the Advanced Science Journal in October 2023. So far, Yudhi and his research team claimed to have successfully designed and developed two nanobodies and determined their structure using Cryo-EM technology.

ANWAR SISWADI (CONTRIBUTOR)

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