Bats are highly unusual creatures. They’re the only mammals with the gift of powered flight; different species have adapted to feast on a wide variety of foods ranging from mosquitoes to fruit to blood; and, as probes into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic emphasize, they can harbor myriad viruses that are dangerous or fatal to other mammals without getting sick themselves.
According to research published today (November 23) in Science Advances, bats’ ability to survive as so-called viral reservoirs may stem in part from unique mutations, including the duplication of the gene encoding an antiviral protein called protein kinase R (PKR). That second copy stems from an ongoing evolutionary “arms race,” according to the study, resulting in bats’ adaptation to and seeming immunity from a wide range of viruses over the course of their evolutionary history.
“The biggest surprise to me is the extra copies of PKR in the ...
