Scientists have long been intrigued by a question surrounding bats: how can these flying mammals carry viruses capable of causing severe disease while rarely becoming seriously ill themselves?
Researchers at Tulane University, working with collaborators at Stanford University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may now have identified part of the answer.
A study published in Science Advances found that the world's largest family of bats carries two distinct copies of the genes involved in producing antibodies. These specialized proteins help the immune system identify and fight infections. Every other known mammal has only one such set of genes.
The finding gives scientists a new way to think about how immune systems evolved and how different animals respond to disease.
"We've never seen anything like this in a mammal before," said Hannah Frank, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Tulane University School of Science and Engineering and corresponding author of the study. "This completely changes our understanding of how mammalian immune systems can be organized and raises exciting new questions about why bats have been so evolutionarily successful and how they respond to viruses."
