Hungarian researchers bring us closer to understand the coronavirus

Semmelweis University’s research team and the staff of the National Security Laboratory were the first ones to investigate the structure of an active and infectious coronavirus.

The virus might be one of the most resilient biological organisms based on the results, because it is self-healing and the spikes on the surface of the pathogen are very mobile, reported 24.hu. The virus was shown to be efficiently compressed; however, it will restore its shape, much like a rubber ball, and its structure will remain intact.

Experts have been studying SARS-CoV-2, more commonly referred to as coronavirus, since it was discovered. Still, many of their questions remain unanswered about the pathogen. A team led by the Dean of the Faculty of General Medicine at Semmelweis University, Dr Miklós Kellermayer, and researchers of the National Safety Laboratory of the National Center of Public Health studied the structure of the coronavirus together. They used an atomic force microscope to scan the surface of the virus’s particles. Dr Kellermayer stated that the mechanical and self-healing abilities of the virus could be the reason behind its high infectivity, as it can easily adapt to many different environmental conditions.

Dr Kellermayer and his team studied active and infectious coronavirus samples, which is quite unique, as all the existing researches beforehand were done on inactivated and chemically treated or frozen samples. Their research could be conducted because of Semmelweis University’s atomic force microscope (AFM), which is used to study the topographic structures and nanomechanical properties of atoms, molecules and cells, as well as a protocol which was developed for their measurements.

The Hungarian researchers pierced and approximately 80-nanometer wide coronavirus particle by using an even smaller needle, to press from the top to the bottom of the virus, causing it to compress. However, the virus just bounced back to its standard form immediately after the needle was removed. The team tried this a hundred times on the same organism, but it remained intact each time. This could be proof of SARS-CoV-2 being one of the most resilient viruses.