Winter (llama)

Winter (born 16 January 2016) is a female llama who lives on a research farm near Ghent, Belgium and is notable for her role in award-winning research on the SARS-CoV2 virus.^[1]

In 2016 Jason McLellan and Daniel Wrapp in collaboration with Xavier Saelens chose the nine-month-old Winter as the llama they would inject with stabilized spike proteins from SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV viruses, hoping that she would produce antibodies or the smaller nanobodies to further their aim "to isolate a single antibody that could neutralize all coronaviruses".^[1][2]

Camelids, including llamas, produce nanobodies, which are a form of antibody about half the size of human antibodies and are very stable and so can be easily manipulated.^[3][4]

When the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was released in January 2020, scientists worked quickly to test whether any of the antibodies that they had previously isolated against the original SARS-CoV (taken from Winter) could also bind and neutralize SARS-CoV-2. They discovered that one of these nanobodies, which they had characterized using the Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source, might be effective against SARS-CoV-2. Jason McLellan and Daniel Wrapp received a 2020 Golden Goose Award for this research.^[1][3] This nanobody — called VHH72 — was further developed as a treatment for COVID-19 by Belgian scientists at Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Ghent University and KU Leuven with spin-off company Exevir.^[5][6]

As of 2021^[update] Llama Winter lives at LABIOMISTA, the arts and culture park of artist Koen Vanmechelen in Genk, Limburg, Belgium, where people can visit and learn more about her.^[7]

References

1. Swenson, Haylie (December 2020). "2020 Golden Goose Award: A Llama Named Winter". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
2. Wrapp, Daniel; Vlieger, Dorien De; Corbett, Kizzmekia S.; Torres, Gretel M.; Wang, Nianshuang; Breedam, Wander Van; Roose, Kenny; Schie, Loes van; Hoffmann, Markus; Pöhlmann, Stefan; Graham, Barney S.; Callewaert, Nico; Schepens, Bert; Saelens, Xavier; McLellan, Jason S. (11 June 2020). "Structural Basis for Potent Neutralization of Betacoronaviruses by Single-Domain Camelid Antibodies". Cell. 181 (6): 1436–1441. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.05.047. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 7289117. PMID 32531248.
3. Andre Salle's (9 March 2021). "Why the lovable llama might be a secret weapon against COVID-19". Argonne National Laboratory.
4. Kramer, Jillian (6 May 2020). "Hoping Llamas Will Become Coronavirus Heroes". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
5. Schepens, Bert; van Schie, Loes; Nerinckx, Wim; Roose, Kenny; Van Breedam, Wander; Fijalkowska, Daria; Devos, Simon; Weyts, Wannes; De Cae, Sieglinde; Vanmarcke, Sandrine; Lonigro, Chiara; Eeckhaut, Hannah; Van Herpe, Dries; Borloo, Jimmy; Oliveira, Ana Filipa (5 October 2021). "An affinity-enhanced, broadly neutralizing heavy chain–only antibody protects against SARS-CoV-2 infection in animal models". Science Translational Medicine. 13 (621) eabi7826. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.abi7826. PMC 9924070. PMID 34609205.
6. "Pipeline - ExeVir". exevir.com. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
7. Vanmecheln, Kurt. "Winter's Kilobytes × we (Wk×W) | LABIOMISTA". www.labiomista.be. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

Further reading

• "Belgian, U.S. scientists look to llama in search for COVID-19 treatment". Reuters. 5 May 2020.
• Alex Robinson (5 May 2020), "Meet Winter, the Llama Who Might Just Save Us All From COVID-19", Modern Farmer
• "Meet Winter, the 4-year-old llama whose blood might hold a treatment for COVID-19". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 May 2020.
• "COVID-19 Researchers Study Llama's Special Antibodies". Morning Edition. NPR. 19 May 2020.
• Dan Solomon (2 December 2020), "How a Llama and a University of Texas Lab Led to the Most Promising COVID-19 Treatment Yet – Researchers Daniel Wrapp and Jason McLellan owe a scientific honor they won this week to a Belgian camelid named Winter.", Texas Monthly
• Marissa Parra (18 March 2021). "Llama Nanobodies Are At Center Of COVID-19 Treatment Study At Argonne National Laboratory". Chicago: WBBM-TV – via CBS Local.
• Karin Brulliard; Carolyn Y. Johnson (6 May 2020). "The urgent quest for a coronavirus treatment involves door-to-door blood collection and a llama named Winter". The Washington Post.
• Julie Mazziotta (7 May 2020), "A Llama Named Winter May Hold the Key to a Coronavirus Treatment – New research found that Winter the llama has antibodies that can neutralize the COVID-19 virus", People

 This article incorporates public domain material from Why the lovable llama might be a secret weapon against COVID-19. United States Department of Energy.