Novel coronavirus--Insights by Prof. Arindam Mondal
KGP Chronicle (April 18, 2020)
COVID-19 infections in India are nearing 15000 cases while claiming more than 100000 lives globally. Coronaviruses are a virus family causing various diseases, ranging from common cold to those like SARS and MERS which can have a high fatality rate. The novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic is a new strain and has been named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 abbreviated as 19-nCoV or SARS-CoV-2.
Dr. Arindam Mondal, Assistant Professor at IIT Kharagpur's School of Bioscience speaks with The Kgp Chronicle regarding frequently asked questions about novel coronavirus. Dr. Mondal leads the Molecular Virology Laboratory in the School of Bioscience where they study human RNA virus replication and host pathogen interaction or molecular detail to develop novel strategies for therapeutic or prophylactic measures. Currently, his lab focuses upon influenza viruses as a model that causes mild to severe respiratory illness.
1) WHAT IS NOVEL CORONAVIRUS?
Corona viruses are relatively large viruses ranging from 80-200nm in diameter and having RNA as their genetic material. The outer surface of these viruses contain three surface proteins, namely Spike protein (S), Membrane protein (M) and Envelope protein (E), while the inner core is constituted of the long genomic RNA enwrapped with multiple copies of viral Nucleoprotein (N). (Read More)