COULD SHARKS NAMED AFTER JAMES BOND VILLAINS PROTECT US FROM COVID?

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have collaborated on a study that they hope will prove that shark antibodies could help in the fight against Covid.

These antibodies, called Variable Antigen Receptors (VNARs), are a natural part of the shark’s immune system and is hoped they could protect against Covid-19.

And, rather fittingly, the sharks that are part of the study are nurse sharks. The male sharks also just so happen to be named after James Bond villains.

Those names are Sir Hugo Drax, Goldfinger, Mr. Stamper, and Nick Nack, named after characters from Moonraker, Goldfinger, Tomorrow Never Dies and The Man With The Golden Gun.

It is quite apt as sharks have often played a supporting role in James Bond films throughout the years: JAWS BOND.

Here's hoping that with their help we get global domination in the fight against Covid-19.

Just to be clear that the sharks are going without being harmed, their blood is drawn once every seven weeks for studying. without them experiencing pain.

The nurse shark is one of the most commonly observed sharks on coral and rocky reefs of the eastern Pacific Ocean and the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean.

If using sharks to help find medical cures may sound familiar, then that's because the sharks in Deep Blue Sea (1999) were being used to help to find a cure for Alzheimers, not that the same thing is going to happen in this instance.

The interesting thing about nurse sharks is that they carry four types of antibodies, which isn't something all sharks have.

In a statement about the research, the studies author Aaron LeBeau, a pathologist at the University, said: "The big issue is there are a number of coronaviruses that are poised for emergence in humans.

"What we're doing is preparing an arsenal of shark VNAR therapeutics that could be used down the road for future SARS outbreaks. It's a kind of insurance against the future."

The study is being conducted alongside researchers at the University of Minnesota and Elasmogen, a biomedical company in Scotland.

To many sharks may seem as if they have A View To A Kill a human, but it looks to be more of a case of The Shark Who Loved Me, ensuring that it is No Time To Die for man.

Let's hope we can repay the favour to sharks and help ensure they are still here to help with such advances in future, something less likely if we continue shark finning, destroying coral reefs and causing our oceans to acidify.

To quote James Bond's family motto, The World Is Not Enough. Sharks must be a part of it too.

Pics and credits here: Shark antibody-like proteins neutralize COVID-19 virus, help prepare for future coronaviruses

Words by Dean Newman

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