Ebola: Bats may be key to curing killer disease – scientists

Scientists have said that bats may hold the key to finding the cure to the ravaging Ebola virus as well as other killer diseases.
Scientists theorize that the bat’s immunity to diseases is connected to its unique ability to fly as flying requires its metabolism to run at a very high rate, causing stress and potential cell damage. Experts think bats may have developed a mechanism to limit this damage by having parts of their immune system permanently switched on. This explains why the mammal can carry more than 100 different viruses without it sickening them.
Olivier Restif, a researcher at Britain’s University of Cambridge, said: “If we can understand how they do it then that could lead to better ways to treat infections that are highly lethal in people and other mammals”.