Cells & molecules
SARS-CoV-2 virion
Virology · Enveloped RNA virus
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Why does soap inactivate the COVID-19 virus so easily?
SARS-CoV-2 is a ball about 90 nm across — about a thousand times thinner than a hair. It is wrapped in a fatty skin, which soap and alcohol break apart, and that skin is covered in spike proteins. Inside is a single long strand of RNA: the instructions a cell would read to build more virus.
SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped, positive-sense RNA virus about 90 nm across whose lipid envelope carries spike, membrane and envelope proteins around a ≈ 30 kb genome packaged by nucleocapsid protein. Infection begins when a spike receptor-binding domain swings up, binds ACE2, and the spike is cleaved so its S2 subunit can fuse the viral and host membranes.
Key facts
- Virion diameter
- ≈ 80–100 nm (envelope ≈ 90 nm)
- Genome
- ≈ 29.9 kb positive-sense ssRNA
- Spikes per virion
- ≈ 25–40 trimers
- Spike length
- ≈ 20–25 nm (prefusion)
- Receptor
- ACE2; entry primed by TMPRSS2 or endosomal cathepsins
- Structural proteins
- S, M, E, N
Parts you can explore (8)
- Lipid envelope
- Spike (S) trimers
- Receptor-binding domains
- ACE2 receptor
- Membrane (M) protein
- Envelope (E) protein
- Nucleocapsid (N) protein
- RNA genome
In the 3D model
Rotate and take apart the model, follow a guided tour of what each part does and why it’s needed, change it with a live slider, and test yourself with a short quiz. Free, no sign-up.
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