Animated model of the structure of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, cause of the 2019-20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. Coronaviruses are named as their surface spikes give them a crown-like appearance under an electron microscope. The spikes are S glycoproteins that bind to the target cell and allow the virus to enter it. The spikes protrude from the viral envelope (red), which also contains M-proteins, E-proteins and HE proteins. Inside the envelope is the coiled RNA genetic material that contains the instructions for building a new virus. |