Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon

As the Covid19 pandemic progresses, we learn more and more about SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid19.

Here is a collection of links to useful websites that explain what the virus looks like, how it works, how to test for it, what treatments and vaccines are being developed, and more.

Contact us with any suggestions to improve or add to this page at biochemistry@otago.ac.nz.

What does the coronavirus look like and how does it work?

Link to electron micrograph of coronavirus

Fighting the invisible enemy
Article featuring beautiful images of the new coronavirus taken using electron microscopes in Australia. (ABC News, 28 April 2020)


Link to visual guide to coronavirus

A visual guide to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus
Article explaining 'the inner workings of the pathogen that has infected the world'. (Scientific American, July 2020)


Link to eLife coronavirus info

Curious to know how the SARS-CoV-2 virus works?
Article summarising what we know so far about the basic properties of the virus and how it interacts with the body. (eLife, updated regularly)


Link to Nanographics coronavirus picture

The structure of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2
Animation of a coronavirus and what it is made up of according to scientists. (
Nanographics
, 17 May 2020)
See also
this coronavirus animation
. (
UKRI
, 26 May 2020)


Link to three coronavirus protein structures

How structural biologists revealed the new coronavirus's structure so quickly
Article about how scientists are figuring out what the coronavirus proteins look like and how they work. (C&EN, 2 May 2020)


Link to NYT coronavirus

Bad news wrapped in protein: inside the coronavirus genome
Article that lists all the proteins that makes up the coronavirus and describes what each protein looks like and does. (The New York Times, 3 April 2020)


Link to iconic coronavirus picture

The spiky blob seen around the world
Article about how a medical illustrator at the CDC helped to create the iconic representation of the novel coronavirus. (The New York Times, 1 April, 2020)


Link to coronavirus colouring in

How to draw the coronavirus
Article about how different artists have decided to make pictures of the coronavirus based on scientific information and artistic licence. (The Paris Review, 18 May 2020)


Link to cell types infected by coronavirus

Receptors for SARS-CoV-2 present in wide variety of human cells
Article about experiments that show that the COVID-19 illness affects not just the lungs but many different organs and cell types. (The Scientist, 29 April 2020)


Testing for Coronavirus

Genetics of the Coronavirus

Possible coronavirus treatments and vaccines

Other cool coronavirus stuff

Back to top