[1] In 2016 Jason McLellan and Daniel Wrapp chose the nine-month-old Winter as the llama they would inject with stabilized spike proteins from SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV viruses, hoping that she would produce antibodies or the smaller nanobodies to further their aim "to isolate a single antibody that could neutralize all coronaviruses".
[2][3] When the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was released in January 2020, scientists worked quickly to test whether any of the antibodies that they had previously isolated against the original SARS-CoV (taken from Winter) could also bind and neutralize SARS-CoV-2.
They discovered that one of these nanobodies, which they had characterized using the Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source, might be effective against SARS-CoV-2.
[1][2] As of 2021[update] Llama Winter lives at LABIOMISTA, the arts and culture park of artist Koen Vanmechelen in Genk, Limburg, Belgium, where people can visit and learn more about her.
[4] This article incorporates public domain material from Why the lovable llama might be a secret weapon against COVID-19.