The Pirbright Institute has generated the first pig antibodies against swine influenza that protect against infection and recognize the same parts of the flu virus as human antibodies.
This work reinforces the use of pigs as powerful models to predict human responses in infection and vaccination, according to Professor John Hammond.
Source: PORK, March 5, 2021. Link. Researchers collaborated to generate pig antibodies in the laboratory (known as monoclonal antibodies, or mAbs). These are the first pig mAbs to be generated which target the influenza virus.
Study findings demonstrate that pig mAbs are more closely matched to human antibodies and could therefore improve the reliability of human vaccine selection. . . “