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A chance discovery has turned camels and lamas into beacons of hope in medical research: Their bodily fluids carry antibodies with unique and promising properties that could help in the fight against infectious diseases, in cancer therapy and with the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Findings show that even when tiny fragments – or nanobodies – are isolated from the base of an antibody, they’re as effective as the complete antibody. Due to their small size, the nanobodies can penetrate into areas off limits to complete antibodies and invade tumors more competently. This revolutionary discovery has triggered a wave of innovations in pharmacology. Work with camel antibodies has been so successful, many medical research centers now have their own herds of lamas and alpacas.
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