Humans are one of the most phenomenal creatures. Not only do we have complex systems and organs that work together, but we also have fascinating brain patterns that can sometimes indirectly cause us to be narrow-minded and judgmental. One of these brain patterns is categorization. As humans, from early childhood, we are wired to put many objects into several different categories. With popular media, we inherently know whether something or someone is good or bad, male or female, or light or dark based on the connotation of a specific outside source, but what we do not understand is that life is a spectrum. For example, whenever we see a person, we automatically assume they are male or female without considering LGBTQ+. Another example would be associating individual animals such as bats to blood-sucking vampires or other mythical creatures with a pessimistic essence. However, the truth is that bats are just like any other animal, and they are not that harmful.
It turns out that out of over 1200 bat species, only three of them are vampire bats, which include the Diphylla ecaudata, Desmodus rotundus, and Diaemus youngi. Out of these three species, only the Desmodus rotundus prefer mammals’ blood, and even these bats do not even do much damage since they mostly feed on cattle. It is astonishing that we left out 1197 bat species and generalized them into the 3/1200 or just 0.0025 percent of vampire bats that exist, with two species not even feeding on mammal blood.
Now, vampire bats may still sound a bit detrimental and scary, but they are essential for human survival as their saliva contains a chemical known as desmoteplase, which helps break down blood clots and is being tested by recovering stroke victims. The remaining species of bats also play a huge role since they mostly feed on insects, which provide about 3.7 billion dollars of pest control for farmers in the U.S. and help pollinate plants.
Not only do bats play a significant role in the environment, but they also play a role in the technology we have. They are the only mammals capable of self-powered flight, an energy-intensive process that allows them to fly and raise a their temperature over 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). This same process is a source of inspiration for flying robots and even an energy-efficient spy plane. However, it comes at a cost for bats. The high metabolic rate, which comes with self-powered flight, causes bats to produce waste molecules called Reactive Oxygen Species that damage and break off DNA fragments. In other organisms, the immune system would detect this as a foreign invader in the body, but bats have evolved a dampened immune system response because of their damaged DNA. This is why bats are known to carry many viruses for decades, have a substantially typical inflammatory response, and are known to have efficient DNA repair genes, which cause the telomere to shorten much slower than other organisms (grants longer life-spans and reduces cell-aging).
Their notably low inflammatory response and all the viruses they can carry have caused many people to worry about getting infected by bats. However, it is not that easy for bats to spread viruses unless a human consumes it or a sick bat who may show unusual behavior emerges during the daytime or is unable to fly, therefore encountering more people. So an excellent way to protect ourselves is to protect bats as well.
Although it is easy to think that bats are immune to most, if not all, diseases, this is not the case. One example is a fungal infection widely devastating bat populations across North America. Known as the white-nose syndrome, it causes bats to wake up while hibernating during the winter. Unable to find food, they expend large amounts of energy from their flight and eventually starve to death. White-nose syndrome has wiped out entire caves full of bats, with a mortality rate beyond ninety percent.
In the end, many people may believe that bats are the reason that many viruses such as the coronavirus have emerged, but it is our responsibility to own up to our actions for what we did. Just because a virus came from an animal does not necessarily mean that it is wrong since we are the ones who did not take proper care of it, causing the virus. Bats play considerable roles in our ecosystems, allowing us to get rid of pests, giving important saliva used to cure patients, and pollinating plants. They are also the key to scientific discoveries that can be made. Who knows if we can improve our immune system by using the methodology of bats? Some things we can do to protect these animals and ourselves by preventing bats from getting the white-nose syndrome includes installing an adequately designed bat box (one of the easiest ways to provide shelter for bats), discourage the use of pesticides that harm bats, avoiding going into caves that may disturb hibernating bats, decontaminating gear after visiting a cave, contacting the local government to safely and humanely relocate bats if they are living in our backyard, and calling animal control whenever we come across a bat. Overall, although bats may carry viruses, they have a medical discover waiting for them, and they mean no harm to us due to their nocturnal structure, but if we do not take care of them, it will be difficult to protect ourselves as well since about 99.5 percent of viruses come from sick bats which emerge during the day.
Author: Svia Epuri LHS 9th grade
Works Cited
Banerjee, Arinjay. “Why bats don’t get sick” Youtube, uploaded by TED-Ed, 26 Jan. 2021
Wray, Amy. “The truth about bats” Youtube, uploaded by TED-Ed, 16 Dec. 2014