Sputnik virophage

Mimivirus neu

tral

ised

coro

navi

rus

aden

ovirus

vect

orRN

Ava

ccin

e

100 nm = 1/10,000th of a mm

CORONAVIRUS VACCINES

coronavirus

S

E M

N

MM M

SS S

hepatitis C virus

RNA

capsid

lipid

E

apolipoprotein

E

EHeartland virus

GnGcGnGc

GnGc

NL

influenza virus

HANA

M2M1

HAHA HAHAHA

NP

anellovirus

ssDNA

capsid

Lassa virus

GP

matrix

N

GP

GP

N

N

ribosome

Zika virus

capsid

RNA

EE

hepatitis B virus

ssDNA

dsDNA

core

L MS

ssRNA

SS

SS

immature HIV mature HIV

gp12-gp41

gp12-gp41 gp12-gp41

gp12-gp41 matrix

matrix

capsid

capsid

genome

enzymes

host proteinshost proteinscalicivirus

capsid

RNA

Bluetongue virus

capsid

RNA

capsidcapsid

Pol

rotavirus

capsid

RNA

capsidcapsid

Pol

adenovirus

capsidfibre

DNA

herpes simplex virus

membrane

envelope proteins

tegument

capsid

DNA

capsid

DNA

membrane

membrane

capsid

fibres

core

mRNA

antibodyS

DNAencoding

coronavirusgene

Freely available under a Creative Commons LicenseCC BY 4.0 (2020) Ed Hutchinson, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research

S

Viruses and snowflakes

A traditional Christmas activity, here in Glasgow and in many other parts of the world, is making paper snowflakes. Fold up a circle of paper, cut a design into it, unfold it again and you end up with a symmetrical design that looks like a snowflake. If, like my colleagues at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, you spend a lot of time thinking about the microscopic world, these symmetrical decorations can also remind you of something else – viruses.

Virus particles and symmetry

Why would viruses look like snowflakes? After all, we don’t expect bacteria to look like snowmen or fungi to look like icicles (although some do; nature is quite varied).

It becomes clear if we think about what a virus is. A virus is a set of genetic instructions that take over a cell and turn it into a factory for making more viruses. Importantly, one of the things the viral genes make the cell do is to produce microscopic particles that can package up new copies of viral genes, in order to transport them to new host cells. These infectious virus particles (or ‘virions’) are very distinctive, and are usually the first thing we think of when we think ‘virus.’ They are, if you can leave the associations with disease aside, quite beautiful.

One of the things that makes virus particles beautiful is that they are often symmetrical. Indeed, some virus particles are so regular that,

like the water that forms snowflakes, they will assemble into crystals if they are kept under the right conditions in a laboratory – this trick has

Snowflake (Alexey Kljatov, 2015)

An icosahedron (Tilman Piesk, 2015), and an icosahedral calcivirus particle, shown in 3D

and in cross-section (Conley et al. (2019) Nature 565 (7739) 377-381).

been used by crystallographers to study their invisible small structures in great detail.

Why are virus particles so regular?

Virus particles are symmetrical because, despite the huge impact they have on our world, viruses are very simple. Compared to us, viruses have very few genes, and so they need to make virus particles from an extremely small set of components, which they use repeatedly.

One way to do this is to assemble a regular box of ‘capsid’ proteins to enclose the viral genes (an icosahedron, which has twenty sides). A 2D projection of an icosahedron is roughly hexagonal, giving it the same symmetry as a snowflake.

Another way to make virus particles is for the virus to steal components from our own cells. Many virus particles are wrapped in a layer of membrane obtained from the cell they grew in – a good way of protecting the viral genes, though it can be disrupted by detergents in soap, or alcohol in hand gels. Surface tension tends to pull membranes into spheres, and proteins that float in them or within them tend to spread out to a roughly even spacing.

Because of this, it turns out that many viruses can be made into paper snowflakes. (A little bit of tweaking was needed to make them fit the symmetry of Christmas decorations exactly, and if you are already interested in viruses you can try and predict where that was needed.)

Virus Snowflakes

In this collection you’ll find viruses that we care about because they make people sick, and viruses that we care about because they make animals sick. You will find viruses that don’t do either of these things but are just really cool – the enormous Mimivirus and the tiny satellite virus that infects it (a virus infecting a virus!); the unobtrusive anellovirus, which you are likely to be infected with right now without noticing it or having any ill-effects.

You will not find some viruses, either because they are not symmetrical enough (the tailed bacteriophage, or bacteria-infecting viruses, that resemble lunar landing modules are among the most beautiful viruses but they only have one copy of their long tail) or because they have the wrong sort of symmetry (this includes viruses that stack their capsid proteins into a helix, like the filament-shaped Ebola virus, and certain viruses that have distinctive shapes like the bullet-shaped rabies virus, the brick-shaped smallpox virus or the lemon-shaped viruses that infect some single-celled archaea).

Finally, this collection was put together in a year dominated by one particular virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the resulting pandemic. Happily, by understanding the structure of virus particles we now have some tools to fight it, and this collection ends with two SARS-CoV-2 vaccines inspired by virus structures, as well as a final snowflake showing how vaccination can protect us against SARS-CoV-2 – perhaps the best Christmas gift any of us could have this year.

Other Resources

* More free resources for learning about viruses, including a colouring book, 3D paper art models (including of helical viruses) and an augmented reality app, can be found with the files for these snowflakes at the website of the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (https://tinyurl.com/yc8edw7a). * These virus snowflakes were based on a wide variety of research papers but I was also grateful, as many virologists are, for the excellent virus summaries at ViralZone (https://viralzone.expasy.org). Any errors are mine, though some of them, due to the unforgiving symmetry relationships of Christmas decorations, were deliberate.

Artistic representation of SARS-CoV-2, which is wrapped in an envelope of membrane

(David S. Goodsell, RCSB Protein Data Bank; doi: 10.2210/rcsb_pdb/goodsell-gallery-024).

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

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out

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Vir

us

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ticl

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Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:

(1)

Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

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dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

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out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

een

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k.(4

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Hut

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MRC-

Uni

vers

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entr

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Res

earc

h

Ade

novi

ruse

s ca

use

a va

riet

y of

illn

esse

s, p

artic

ular

ly

cold

-lik

e sy

mpt

oms

and

conj

unct

iviti

s. T

hey

can

be g

enet

ical

ly m

odifi

ed t

o de

liver

gen

es.

Thes

e fin

ds u

ses

in g

ene

ther

apy

and

in v

acci

nes

for

viru

ses

incl

udin

g SA

RS-

CoV

-2.

An

aden

ovirus

par

ticle

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2 co

rner

s ar

e de

cora

ted

with

long

, sp

ike-

like

fibre

s, w

hich

it u

ses

to

atta

ch t

o ne

w c

ells

. In

side

the

pa

rtic

le a

re c

ore

and

min

or/c

emen

t pr

otei

ns,

whi

ch h

elp

to p

acka

ge

the

viru

s' D

NA g

enom

e.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Eas

y

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:

(1)

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out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

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ly a

vaila

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unde

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ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

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Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

Mem

bers

ofth

is v

irus

fam

ily a

re

not

know

n to

cau

se d

isea

se,

but

they

are

ext

rem

ely

com

mon

- it

is

like

ly t

hat

anel

lovi

ruse

s ar

e re

plic

atin

g in

side

you

r bo

dy a

t th

e m

omen

t w

ithou

t yo

u ev

en n

otic

ing.

Ane

llovi

ruse

s fo

rm s

impl

e pa

rtic

les:

an

icos

ahed

ral b

ox o

f ca

psid

pro

tein

s su

rrou

nd a

cir

cle

of s

ingl

e-st

rand

ed

DN

A,

whi

ch g

ives

the

vir

us it

s na

me

(fro

m a

nello

, 'rin

g').

The

vir

us r

elie

s on

our

ow

n en

zym

es t

o m

ake

mor

e co

pies

of its

gen

ome.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Eas

y

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:Cal

iciv

irus

es a

re t

rans

mitt

ed b

ya

20 s

ided

(ic

osah

edra

l) p

artic

le,

whi

ch c

onta

ins

the

vira

l gen

ome.

Onc

e it

is in

side

a c

ell,

the

part

icle

rear

rang

es it

self.

A p

ore

open

s in

its s

urfa

ce,

allo

win

g th

e vi

ral

geno

me

to e

scap

e an

d ta

ke c

ontr

olof

the

cel

l's fun

ctio

ns.

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Cal

iciv

irus

es a

re a

fam

ily o

f vi

ruse

sth

at c

ause

dis

ease

s in

clud

ing

one

of t

he m

ost

com

mon

infe

ctio

usfo

rms

of v

omiti

ng a

nd d

iarr

hoea

,w

inte

r vo

miti

ng d

isea

se.

Oth

erca

liciv

irus

es in

fect

pet

s, n

otab

lyfe

line

calic

ivir

us,

whi

ch c

ause

sa

resp

irat

ory

infe

ctio

n in

cat

s.

Inst

ruct

ion

s:(1

) Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

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ly a

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ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:(1

) Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed H

utch

inso

n, M

RC-U

nive

rsity

of

Gla

sgow

Cen

tre

for

Vir

us R

esea

rch

Diff

eren

t co

rona

viru

ses

can

infe

ct

man

y sp

ecie

s of

mam

mal

s an

d bi

rds.

In

hum

ans,

cor

onav

irus

es a

re o

ne

of t

he c

ause

s of

the

com

mon

col

d.

Som

e co

rona

viru

ses

are

mor

e se

riou

s: S

ever

e Acu

te R

espi

rato

ry

Synd

rom

e Cor

onav

irus

2 (

SARS-

CoV

-2),

w

hich

cau

ses

Cor

onav

irus

dis

ease

201

9 (C

OVID

-19)

has

cau

sed

a w

orld

- ch

angi

ng p

ande

mic

.

The

long

spi

kes

of S

pro

tein

, w

hich

re

sem

ble

aso

lar

coro

na(o

r'c

row

n')

give

the

vir

us it

s na

me.

S b

inds

to

new

ho

st c

ells

, w

hich

can

be

bloc

ked

by

antib

odie

s. T

he v

irus

has

a m

embr

ane

whi

ch c

an b

e de

stro

yed

by s

oap

or

alco

hol,

and

insi

de t

his

the

RN

A g

enom

e is

wra

pped

in m

any

copi

es o

f N

pro

tein

.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Eas

y

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:Th

e ge

nom

e of

Hea

rtla

nd v

irus

cons

ists

of th

ree

segm

ents

of RN

A,

each

wra

pped

in n

ucle

opro

tein

s an

dbo

und

to a

pol

ymer

ase

prot

ein.

The

viru

s pa

rtic

le's

mem

bran

e is

coa

ted

in a

latt

ice

of v

iral

pro

tein

s.

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Hea

rtla

nd v

irus

, di

scov

ered

in 2

009

and

nam

ed a

fter

Hea

rtla

nd R

egio

nal

Med

ical

Cen

ter

in M

isso

uri,

is a

nex

ampl

e of

a b

unya

viru

s.Bun

yavi

ruse

s ar

e a

dive

rse

orde

r of

anim

al a

nd p

lant

vir

uses

, m

ost

ofth

em t

rans

mitt

ed b

y bi

ting

arth

ropo

ds -

in t

he c

ase

ofH

eart

land

vir

us,

by t

icks

.

Inst

ruct

ion

s:(1

) Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:

(1)

Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

fG

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Vir

us R

esea

rch

Ther

e ar

e m

any

vira

l dis

ease

s th

at

can

caus

e in

flam

mat

ion

of t

he li

ver

(hep

atiti

s),

whi

ch c

an le

ad t

o liv

er

failu

re a

nd c

ance

r. H

epat

itis

B v

irus

(H

BV)

is a

glo

bal h

ealth

pro

blem

, th

ough

infe

ctio

n ca

n be

pre

vent

ed

by v

acci

natio

n.

HBV h

as a

n un

usua

l gen

ome,

fo

rmed

par

tly fro

m d

oubl

e-st

rand

ed

DN

A,

part

ly fro

m s

ingl

e-st

rand

ed

DN

A,

and

part

ly fro

m s

ingl

e-st

rand

ed

RN

A.

This

is w

rapp

ed in

a s

mal

l par

ticle

of

mem

bran

e an

d vi

ral p

rote

ins.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:

(1)

Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Ther

e ar

e m

any

vira

l dis

ease

s th

at

can

caus

e in

flam

mat

ion

of t

he li

ver

(hep

atiti

s).

Hep

atiti

s C v

irus

(H

CV)

is

a m

ajor

cau

se o

f vi

ral h

epat

itis,

whi

ch

caus

es c

hron

ic il

lnes

s, li

ver

failu

re

and

canc

er.

Rece

ntly

, im

prov

ed d

rugs

ha

ve m

ade

HCV m

uch

easi

er t

o tr

eat

and

cure

.

The

sing

le-s

tran

ded

RN

A o

f th

e H

CV

geno

me

is s

urro

unde

d by

a la

yer

of

mat

rix

prot

ein

and

wra

pped

in

mem

bran

e. H

CV p

artic

les

can

fuse

w

ith t

he li

popr

otei

n pa

rtic

les

that

tr

ansp

ort

lipid

s ar

ound

the

bod

y.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Har

d

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:A h

erpe

s vi

rus

part

icle

is c

ompl

ex.

It is

sur

roun

ded

by a

mem

bran

e th

atis

stu

dded

with

viral

pro

tein

s. I

nsid

eth

is is

a t

hick

pro

tein

coa

t, c

alle

d th

ete

gum

ent.

With

in t

his

is a

20-

side

d(i

cosa

hedr

al)

shel

l or

caps

id,

whi

chco

ntai

ns t

he v

iral

gen

ome

- a

long

stra

nd o

f D

NA,

wra

pped

into

a t

ight

ball

to fit

into

thi

s tin

y sp

ace.

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Her

pes

viru

ses

are

a fa

mily

of ve

ryco

mm

on v

irus

es t

hat

caus

e lif

elon

gin

fect

ions

. Th

ey c

an li

e hi

dden

for

long

per

iods

but

occ

asio

nally

re-e

mer

ge t

o ca

use

dise

ase.

Her

pes

sim

plex

vir

us 1

, w

hich

hid

es in

ner

vece

lls,

emer

ges

to c

ause

col

d so

res.

Inst

ruct

ion

s:(1

) Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:Tw

o co

pies

of th

e vi

ral g

enom

e ar

esu

rrou

nded

by

a m

embr

ane

and

vira

lpr

otei

ns.

Aft

er t

he v

irus

par

ticle

has

form

ed,

vira

l enz

ymes

cut

the

pro

tein

s,al

low

ing

the

part

icle

to

rear

rang

e in

toits

mat

ure

form

.

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

HIV

is a

ret

rovi

rus.

Our

cel

ls c

opy

RN

Am

essa

ges

from

a D

NA g

enom

e, b

utH

IV m

akes

a D

NA c

opy

of it

s RN

Age

nom

e (h

ence

'ret

ro')

whi

ch it

perm

anen

tly in

sert

s in

to t

he g

enom

eof

the

whi

te b

lood

cel

ls it

infe

cts.

If

untr

eate

d, t

his

seve

rly

wea

kens

the

imm

une

syst

em,

caus

ing

Acq

uire

dIm

mun

odef

icie

ncy

Synd

rom

e (A

IDS).

Inst

ruct

ion

s:(1

) Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.(5

) To

mat

ure

the

viru

s pa

rtic

le:

re

fold

alo

ng t

he d

ashe

d lin

es.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:Th

e in

fluen

za v

irus

par

ticle

isw

rapp

ed in

a m

embr

ane,

whi

ch is

coat

ed w

ith t

he t

wo

spik

e pr

otei

nsan

d pe

netr

ated

by

a po

re.

Insi

de is

a la

yer

of m

atrix

prot

ein

and

the

eigh

t se

gmen

ts o

f th

e vi

ral g

enom

e.

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Influ

enza

virus

es c

ause

influ

enza

,a

com

mon

win

ter

resp

irat

ory

illne

ssth

at c

ause

s fe

ver

and

exha

ustio

n.Spi

kes

on t

heir

sur

face

, H

A a

nd N

A,

can

be b

lock

ed b

y an

tibod

ies

if th

eyar

e of

the

rig

ht s

ort

(H1N

1, H

3N2,

etc)

. H

owev

er,

the

spik

es c

hang

era

pidl

y, a

nd t

he v

acci

nes

whi

chpr

ovid

e im

mun

ity t

o th

em h

ave

tobe

upd

ated

oft

en.

Occ

asio

nally

,hu

man

influ

enza

vir

uses

pic

k up

com

plet

ely

new

spi

kes

from

an

anim

alin

fluen

za v

irus

, al

low

ing

them

to

esca

pe a

ll im

mun

e pr

otec

tion

- th

iscr

eate

s an

influ

enza

pan

dem

ic.

Inst

ruct

ion

s:(1

)Cut

out

the

squa

re.

(2)

Fold

dott

edlin

esto

form

atr

iang

le,

with

the

desi

gnon

top.

(3)

Cut

out

the

desi

gn,

cutt

ing

thro

ugh

the

entir

est

ack.

(4)

Unf

old.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:

(1)

Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

eCC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-U

nive

rsity

of

Gla

sgow

Cen

tre

for

Vir

us R

esea

rch

Lass

a ha

emor

rhag

ic fev

er is

a s

ever

e ill

ness

tha

t ca

n be

cau

ght

from

ro

dent

s in

par

ts o

f W

est

Afr

ica.

It

is

caus

ed b

y an

em

ergi

ng v

irus

(on

e th

at is

bec

omin

g m

ore

com

mon

),

calle

d La

ssa

mam

mar

enav

irus

.

The

Lass

a vi

rus

geno

me

cons

ists

of

two

segm

ents

of si

ngle

-str

ande

d RN

A,

boun

d to

viral

pro

tein

s an

d su

rrou

nded

by

mat

rix

prot

ein

and

a m

embr

ane.

Rec

epto

r-bi

ndin

g pr

otei

ns in

the

mem

bran

e al

low

th

e vi

rus

to e

nter

new

cel

ls.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Har

d

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

es:

The

Mim

ivir

us p

artic

le is

icos

ahed

ral

and

deco

rate

d w

ith lo

ng fib

res.

Ins

ide,

mem

bran

es a

nd p

rote

ins

wra

p ar

ound

a co

re c

onta

inin

g th

e D

NA g

enom

e.

The

Spu

tnik

vir

opha

ge p

artic

le is

sm

all,

icos

ahed

ral a

nd c

onta

ins

a ci

rcul

arD

NA g

enom

e.

Ab

out

the

Vir

use

s:Virus

es w

ere

orig

inal

ly id

entif

ied

asm

icro

bes

that

wer

e sm

alle

r th

anba

cter

ia,

but

rece

ntly

gia

nt v

irus

esha

ve b

een

disc

over

ed,

such

as

this

Mim

ivirus

whi

ch in

fect

s am

oeba

e.N

ot o

nly

are

they

big

ger

than

som

eba

cter

ia,

gian

t vi

ruse

s ar

e ev

enex

ploi

ted

by s

mal

ler

'sat

ellit

e' v

irus

es,

or 'v

irop

hage

s,' t

hat

requ

ire

the

gian

tvi

rus

for

thei

r ow

n re

plic

atio

n.

Inst

ruct

ion

s:(1

) Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

eCC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-U

nive

rsity

of

Gla

sgow

Cen

tre

for

Vir

us R

esea

rch

Dif

ficu

lty:

Har

d

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:

(1)

Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

Rota

viru

ses

are

an e

xtre

mel

yco

mm

on c

ause

of di

arrh

oea,

part

icul

arly

in y

oung

chi

ldre

n.M

ost

peop

le a

re in

fect

ed a

t le

ast

once

by

the

age

of fiv

e.

The

rota

viru

s pa

rtic

le h

as a

whe

el-l

ike

appe

aran

ce (

rota

mea

ns ‘w

heel

’) a

nd

is for

med

fro

m t

hree

laye

rs o

f ca

psid

pr

otei

ns.

The

inne

r tw

o la

yers

for

m a

co

re t

hat

cont

ains

the

gen

ome,

as

11

segm

ents

of

doub

le-s

tran

ded

RN

A,

and

the

enzy

mes

tha

t co

py it

. Pr

omin

ent

spik

es h

elp

the

part

icle

to

ente

r ce

lls.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:(1

) Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

Zik

a vi

rus

is s

prea

d m

ainl

y by

mos

quito

bite

s. I

t w

as fir

st id

entif

ied

in U

gand

a, b

ut it

s ra

nge

is in

crea

sing

.In

201

5 it

reac

hed

the

Am

eric

as a

ndca

used

a m

ajor

epi

dem

ic.

Zik

a fe

ver

is t

ypic

ally

a m

ild il

lnes

s, b

ut in

fect

ions

during

pre

gnan

cy c

an c

ause

mic

roce

phal

y (a

sho

rten

ed h

ead)

in b

abie

s.

The

Zik

a vi

rus

geno

me

is s

ingl

e-

stra

nded

RN

A,

surr

ound

ed b

y m

atrix

prot

ein

and

a m

embr

ane,

whi

ch is

en

clos

ed in

mor

e pr

otei

ns.

The

oute

r pr

otei

ns a

re in

itial

ly r

aise

d up

in

spik

es b

ut fla

tten

aga

inst

the

m

embr

ane

as t

he p

artic

le m

atur

es.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Eas

y

Ab

out

the

Par

ticl

e:

Ab

out

the

Vac

cin

e:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:

(1)

Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

eCom

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Vir

us R

esea

rch

This

is n

ot a

virus

, bu

t in

man

y w

ays

it be

have

s lik

e on

e. I

t is

an

artif

icia

l pa

rtic

le,

desi

gned

to

deliv

er the

in

stru

ctio

ns for

mak

ing

all o

r pa

rt

of t

he S

ARS-C

oV-2

S p

rote

in t

o a

cell.

W

hen

the

cell

mak

es t

his

harm

less

pr

otei

n, t

he im

mun

e sy

stem

lear

ns

to r

ecog

nise

it a

nd c

an t

hen

atta

ck

real

SARS-C

oV-2

par

ticle

s ef

fect

ivel

y.

Like

man

y vi

ruse

s, t

his

vacc

ine

is

a se

t of

RN

A in

stru

ctio

ns for

mak

ing

prot

ein

(mRN

A,

mes

seng

er R

NA)

wra

pped

in a

mem

bran

e. T

he

mem

bran

e is

sta

bilis

ed w

ith s

tran

ds

of p

olye

thyl

ene

glyc

ol (

PEG

) bu

t th

e RN

A it

self

is u

nsta

ble

and

so t

heva

ccin

e ne

eds

to b

e ke

pt v

ery

cold

.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:

Ab

out

the

Vir

us:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:

(1)

Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

Blu

eton

gue

dise

ase

affe

cts

rum

inan

ts,

incl

udin

g ca

ttle

, go

ats

and

part

icul

arly

sh

eep.

It

can

caus

e se

riou

s di

seas

e,

incl

udin

g th

e sw

olle

n, b

luei

sh t

ongu

e th

at g

ives

it it

s na

me.

The

vir

us t

hat

ca

uses

blu

eton

gue

dise

ase

is s

prea

d by

mid

ge b

ites.

The

blue

tong

ue v

irus

par

ticle

is for

med

fr

om t

hree

laye

rs o

f ca

psid

pro

tein

s.

The

inne

r tw

o la

yers

form

a c

ore

that

co

ntai

ns 1

0 se

gmen

ts o

f do

uble

- st

rand

ed R

NA g

enom

e, a

nd t

he

enzy

mes

tha

t co

py it

.

Dif

ficu

lty:

Med

ium

Ab

out

the

Vir

us

Par

ticl

e:

Inst

ruct

ion

s:(1

) Cut

out

the

squ

are.

(2)

Fold

dot

ted

lines

to

form

a

tria

ngle

, w

ith t

he d

esig

n on

top

.(3

) Cut

out

the

des

ign,

cut

ting

th

roug

h th

e en

tire

stac

k.(4

) U

nfol

d.

Free

ly a

vaila

ble

unde

r a

Cre

ativ

e Com

mon

s Li

cens

e CC B

Y 4.

0 (2

020)

Ed

Hut

chin

son,

MRC-

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

lasg

ow C

entr

e fo

r Virus

Res

earc

h

This

is w

hat

the

end

of a

pan

dem

ic

look

s lik

e.

Cor

onav

irus

par

ticle

s en

ter

cells

by

bind

ing

to t

hem

with

the

sp

ikes

of S p

rote

in o

n th

eir

surf

ace.

H

ere,

the

cor

onav

irus

has

infe

cted

so

meo

ne w

hose

imm

une

syst

em c

an

reco

gnis

e S –

eith

er fro

m a

pre

viou

s in

fect

ion,

or

due

to v

acci

natio

n. N

ow,

the

muc

us in

the

ir a

irw

ays

cont

ains

an

tibod

ies

that

lock

on

to s

peci

ficsi

tes

on S

.

Onc

e th

e S p

rote

ins

are

boun

d to

an

tibod

ies

the

viru

s is

‘neu

tral

ised

’ –

it ca

n no

long

er b

ind

to o

ur c

ells

and

in

fect

us.

It

is n

o lo

nger

a t

hrea

t.