New ways to combat the deadly Ebola virus have been revealed by scientists. The scientists have been able to isolate immune cells from an Ebola survivor’s blood using a new technique. In the new study, the researchers took antibodies from an Ebola survivor whose immune system showed a particularly strong response against the deadly virus.

The group of antibodies that the researchers suspected to be the most effective in fighting the virus was isolated. Then they used these antibodies in treating mice that were infected with the Ebola virus.

“What we were trying to do was understand the antibody response in survivors. When you put [the antibodies] into mice, it prevents the virus from infecting cells,” said Laura Walker, co-author of the study and a senior scientist at Adimab, a biopharmaceutical company in Lebanon, New Hampshire, which funded the study.

The new findings will help in a big way in designing Ebola vaccines and Ebola treatments. According to Walker, the antibodies can be used as a template. One can design Ebola vaccines based on these antibodies. No vaccine has been designed till date using isolated antibodies. One can read about the new technique designed by the researchers in this Live Science report.

In another study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Australian black flying fox has proved to be extremely important in providing Ebola protection to humans. The CSIRO researchers have found out that bats have an immune system that is switched on 24/7. Even if bats are natural hosts for over 100 viruses, some lethal on humans, the nocturnal creatures do not display symptoms of ailments from the viruses or even get sick.

The study’s focus was on the role of interferons to understand the bat’s response to invading viruses. Interferons are proteins produced by the body’s cells as a defensive response to viruses as well as fight bacterial and parasitic infections, inhibit cell division and promote or impeded cell differentiation.

In their study, the team found that bats only have three interferons, though the number is sufficient to control viral infections which may kill people. The bats exhibited heightened innate immune response even if they are not infected with any detectable virus.

Dr Michelle Baker, leading bat immunologist at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory of CSIRO, hopes science would be able to redirect the immune responses of other species to behave in a similar way as bats. This would protect innumerable Australians from exotic and emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola and Zika.

RELATED STORIES