China announces discovery of antibodies against all strains of SARS-CoV-2

When analyzing antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that were produced in people who were seriously ill with COVID-19 , Chinese molecular biologists discovered a universal 35B5 antibody that is effective against all strains of this coronavirus.

Information about this discovery was published in the electronic library bioRxiv. The TASS agency drew attention to the publication.

“The images we obtained showed that the 35B5 molecule binds to a part of the coronavirus S-protein that does not actually change as SARS-CoV-2 evolves. This makes it possible to use this site not only to create antibodies, but also to develop a universal vaccine against all strains of coronavirus,” the publication says.

The 35B5 antibody was discovered during a large-scale study, when antibody samples were taken from the bodies of people who were seriously ill with COVID-19 and studied which parts of the virus they attacked.

Experiments showed that 35B5 fought both the beta strain and the delta strain with equal efficiency. The effect of the antibody has already been tested on mice: it protected all rodents from death and serious lung damage. The article says that the other types of antibodies chosen for the experiment did not show the same effectiveness against all strains, their effect was weakened after the coronavirus mutated.