Covid-resistant bats could be key to fighting the next pandemic

The only mammals that fly are not affected by coronaviruses. Scientists are trying to work out why

Widely depicted as evil spirits or blood-sucking demons, bats have had a poor press over the years. No vampire film, from Dracula to Buffy, has been complete without an entrance of one of these harbingers of death.

But these grim portrayals demean the bat. We have much to learn from them, insist researchers who now believe bats could be crucial in helping us cope with future pandemics.