Sounds batty but scientists believe bats could help prevent human ageing

BATS rarely get a good press but scientists believe that they hold a secret that could slow down human ageing.

As they live for approximately 20 years and are impervious to diseases like Ebola and – ironically – Covid, which can be fatal for humans, Duke-NUS Medical School (Singapore) have studied these flying mammals to discover the key to their resistance to disease.

The researchers found that they possess an altered version of the “bat ASC2” protein which halts their inflammatory response and provides them with their resilience to viral infections.

Mice which had been genetically engineered to carry the protein have produced “promising results” in experiments,  the Singapore scientists said.

Their findings, they hope, could one day save millions of lives, helping to combat heart conditions, arthritis and Covid, amongst other conditions.