A Nanoscale Look At The Coronavirus
by Amy Sterling
The Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, COVID) is a relatively large virus, around 120 nanometers across1. Each particle is covered in protein projections called spikes, shown in yellow, that mediate the virus’s inverse vampire role of inserting its genome into a human cell.
Like all viruses, COVID hijacks a host cell and forces it to make copies of itself.
It attacks by using its surface proteins as a sort of skeleton key to enter a host cell. Once inside, it ejects its RNA, which instructs that cell to begin making pieces of the virus. Eventually those pieces build up and start to bud off, similar to the simulation below.
Many therapeutic approaches to fighting Coronavirus focus on its surface proteins, particularly the spikes, disabling of which could prevent the virus from attaching to host cells. Scientists are beginning to understand the details of these spike proteins2, which could expedite vaccines, antivirals and other medical approaches.
