Looking at SARS CoV-2

Data as of 10 AM 21-March:

Today we will take at look at the SARS CoV 2 virus which is the causative agent of the Covid-19 outbreak. As scientists have more time to study the virus, since it has moved outside of China, information on it is growing.

First off, lets address the conspiracy theorists out there who claim the SARS CoV 2 virus is a product of Chinese or other military labs. Information released yesterday by the Scripps Research Institute shows the virus is of natural origin.

“By comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, we can firmly determine that SARS-CoV-2 originated through natural processes,” said Kristian Andersen, PhD, associate professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps, and lead author on the paper, “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” . Anderson, along with coauthors Robert F. Garry, Tulane University; Edward Holmes, University of Sydney; Andrew Rambaut, University of Edinburgh; and W. Ian Lipkin, Columbia University say SARS CoV 2 show no evidence of being created in a laboratory or engineered in any form.

Evidence shows the SARS CoV 2 virus is a mingling in many ways of the SARS CoV virus and the MERS virus. The strongest evidence of natural evolution came from the receptor-binding domain of the SARS CoV 2 virus, which has evolved over time to very selectively bind to the human ACE2 receptor, found on many human cells including those in the respiratory system. The receptor-binding domain is also known as the SARS CoV 2 “spike protein.” The virus binds so well that scientists say it could only be the result of “natural selection.”

As to SARS CoV 2 itself, we are finally seeing some actual photos of the virus. All of the following come from electron microscope imagery:

Thus, SARS-CoV-2 virus belongs to the genera of Beta Coronaviruses, in the order of Nidovirales, family of Coronaviridae and sub-family of Orthocoronavirinae. It is round or elliptical with a diameter of approximately 100 nm.

As we can see, the virus is a very simple design. It is composed of a lipid membrane capsule, which surrounds a nucleocapsid protein that contains the RNA sequence of about 30,000 base pairs. On the outside of the capsule are the spike proteins, which so easily bind to the ACE2 receptors of human cells, especially those in the respiratory system.

It is amazing that something so small, so simple, and non-living, has in a matter of weeks brought the world to its knees. Yet, we are only in the infancy of this outbreak. How long it lasts, and we need to hope it is stretched out over months, and how severe the implications, lay with how well we as citizens can abide by the restrictions put in place.

The future of the outbreak, specifically how bad it gets, is in all of our hands. Hopefully, we have the resolve to recognize the common good above personal need and want and do what is asked. Because barring a vaccine, likely at least a year away, social distancing and isolation is the only answer.

Stay safe and follow the orders of federal, state and local health officials.