Virology is an obscure and perplexing subject at first. However, once you start putting things in perspective, the pieces start coming together to form a beautiful picture. I personally discovered virology through an internship. I learned that subject through a series of lectures, and let me tell you that they were incredibly complex! However, I learned more than I had ever learned at school. The lectures have bolstered my passion of pursuing a biology-related major in college!
Virology is very much applicable to the predicament we’re living in today. While it may seem that we have gotten nowhere in stopping this pandemic, scientists have actually made great progress! Through these lectures, I found out that scientists and researchers have already found the cell receptor for SARS-Cov-2! There are many enabling technologies that can do this job, such as flow cytometry or CRISPR/Cas9.
A cell receptor is required for a virus to infect a cell. The virus has a receptor which attaches itself to the cell receptor so that it can release its genome. Essentially, the receptor is the literal “key” to infection.
What have we gotten from this? Well, now we know how the SARS-CoV-2 virus can enter the cell. This new knowledge can help scientists find cures and vaccines for the virus!
Cover image credits: http://www.virology.wisc.edu/virusworld/PS10/p1m_poliovirus-receptor_close-up.jpg
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