National research Institute of Allergy and infectious diseases USA (NIAID) in conjunction with the Rocky Mountains Laboratories (RML) has published the first photos of the coronavirus COVID-19, obtained with a scanning electron microscope. Contrary to the current representation of him, as of a virus-killer, it looks surprisingly aesthetically pleasing.
In the first photo (the virus isolated from a patient in the USA) are visible viral particles, painted in yellow, at the time of exit from the cell, which is painted in blue and pink. All the colors are conditional, they are added only for readability.
The following image is not as clear compared to previous one, but here we see on the surface of the virus body processes, reminiscent of a crown, which give the fashion industry its name.
By the way, coronaviruses is a whole family, which includes also SARS virus (“SARS”) and the MERS virus (middle East respiratory syndrome, the outbreak of which occurred in 2015 in South Korea). From each other they differ at the genome level. Between the three viruses, there are five nucleotide differences, significantly influencing the nature of the infection.
Source — NIAID