“This is promising.”

That’s the quote from Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at John Hopkins University Center for Health Security.

Adalja was being interviewed by Science Magazine’s Mitch Leslie for an article, “This cow’s antibodies could be the newest weapon against COVID-19.”

Cows make good antibody factories
The genetically modified cows that could help fight COVID-19 are currently housed in a South Dakota barn. The research is a project being led by SAb Biotherapeutics of Sioux Falls, S.D. “The company genetically alters dairy cows so that certain immune cells carry the DNA that allows people to make antibodies,” wrote Leslie. “That upgrade enables the animals to manufacture large quantities of human antibodies against a pathogen protein injected into them, such as the ‘spike’ surface protein of the new coronavirus.”

Science Magazine reports that the biotech firm hopes to begin a clinical trial within the next couple of months.