Vesper bats found to carry two separate antibody gene systems, a mammal first
A study in Science Advances found that vesper bats, the world's largest bat family, carry two complete sets of antibody-building genes on separate chromosomes, an arrangement never seen before in any mammal. Researchers say it may help explain how bats tolerate viruses that would sicken other mammals.
Scientists at Tulane University, working with Stanford and the CDC, discovered that vesper bats carry two separate heavy-chain antibody gene systems on two different chromosomes, something never documented in any other mammal. One gene set builds a broad, ready-made range of antibodies; the other fine-tunes antibodies after infection through somatic hypermutation. Outside experts say the finding opens a new direction for understanding how bats coexist with viruses that cause severe disease in humans, though researchers caution it does not fully explain bats' viral tolerance and still needs testing against live infections.