Department of Surgery

Becoming bat-man: comparative computational modeling between bats and humans to discover bat-inspired treatment for acute viral infections.

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest in the immunology of bats. This is because many of the most significant viral pandemics in the recent past (Ebola, SARS1, MERS and of course SARS-COV2) appear to be of bat origin, and bats do not get sick despite being infected with these viruses. Bats are unique among mammals by being capable of powered flight, and the metabolic demands associated with this capability has led to several unique immunological features that contribute to their tolerance of viral infection. In order to better characterize the dynamic consequences of these differences, the An-Cockrell Lab has developed a computational model that explicitly incorporates and compares specific immune mechanisms known to differ between bats and humans; this is the Comparative Biology Immune Agent-based Model (CBIABM). This is the first such model reported in the literature (Citation: Cockrell, C. and An, G. Comparative Computational Modeling of the Bat and Human Immune Response to Viral Infection with the Comparative Biology Immune Agent Based Model. Viruses 16 August 2021, 13(8), 1620; >> Follow Link .

Simulation experiments with the CBIABM led to the identification of a novel role of endothelial inflammation as a possible therapeutic target in the treatment of COVID-19 and, importantly, for future viral pandemics; this latter capability is an essential component of future pandemic readiness. The An/Cockrell Lab is working with the Boyson Lab to investigate some of the ideas resulting from this model.

A screenshot of this simulation can be seen below: