By: Jahnavi Amara
David S. Goodsell’s interpretation of the Coronavirus
While most of us can agree that viruses are some of the most vile monsters traipsing this world we call ours, they are also the most beautiful creatures nature could have cursed us with. The symmetrical complexity and unsettling beauty of their structure coupled with their innate existence on the thin line between mortality and immortality makes them a worthy subject of many biologists.
It might surprise you how virus structures and architecture made by humans are similar. This is especially interesting since the said architecture we have made that correlates to the structure of various viruses was made long before we even knew what viruses looked like. A wonderful coincidence was when Richard Buckminister Fuller had been designing and constructing domes, biologists at the time had just found how viruses look like in their raw form. They recognised these patterns and had contacted Fuller, and with their joint efforts, they created the first ever virus model.
Furthermore, another example is the model for the HPV virus, it has been only developed in recent years, however, the same patterns can be seen in the designs of mosques dating back to 800 years ago. We can also see the resemblance in origami and virus structures, and while it seems as a supernatural coincidence, it is not really so.
Since viruses need a symmetrical shape that is easy to assemble, they’ve all asked the same mathematical question, and that results in one answer only. This mathematical modelling can be used to clarify the effects of such asymmetric virus characteristics and how they influence critical dynamic viral life cycle activities. The complexity of the viruses' structural organisation increases with their size.
As a result, a deeper comprehension of virus capsids and their symmetries has opened the door to new antiviral techniques as well as the repurposing of the genome-encoded instructions for virus assembly for the creation of synthetic virus-like particles. Nanotechnology, especially, may use these particles for a wide variety of purposes, from cargo storage to medicine delivery to diagnostics.It is the complexity, adaptability, and continuing evolution of viruses that keeps humanity gripped on learning more about them.
References:
Dechant, Pierre-Philippe, and Reidun Twarock. “Models of Viral Capsid Symmetry as a Driver of Discovery in Virology and Nanotechnology.” Portland Press, Portland Press, 2 Feb. 2021, portlandpress.com/biochemist/article/43/1/20/227738/Models-of-viral-capsid-symmetry-as-a-driver-of.
“Virus, the Beauty of the Beast.” Virus, the Beauty of the Beast, viruspatterns.com/.
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