In A First, Pune Scientists Capture Microscopic Image Of The Novel Coronavirus
Up until now, we¡¯ve all seen representational images of the deadly novel coronavirus, but now Indian scientists have revealed a microscopic image of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
According to reports, the images of the coronavirus have been taken by a team of ICMR-NIV scientists in Pune. These images were captured using a transmission electron microscope and have been published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research.
The images of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, are from the throat swab of the first laboratory-confirmed case in India reported on January 30. The woman, among three students studying medicine in Wuhan in China, was diagnosed with COVID-19 after returning to India.
Polymerase chain reaction is a method widely used in molecular biology to rapidly make millions to billions of copies of a specific DNA sample allowing scientists to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it to a large enough amount to study in detail.
"In summary, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report from India detecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus using TEM directly in a throat swab specimen confirmed by PCR..." the study said.
In a first, Indian scientists have revealed a microscopy image of SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID19). Scientists took the throat swab sample from first laboratory-confirmed COVID19 case in India, reported on Jan 30 in Kerala. The findings are published in the latest edition of the IJMR. pic.twitter.com/1JQcf4VS8y
¡ª ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2020
The article titled "Transmission electron microscopy imaging of SARS-CoV-2" has been authored by the ICMR-NIV National Influenza Centre Team. The authors include Atanu Basu, deputy director and head of electron microscopy and pathology at NIV Pune.
According to the article, one particular virus particle was very well preserved, showing features very typical of coronaviruses. These bind only to certain receptors on the host cell.
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According to the study, the description of a novel human coronavirus, initially referred to as the Wuhan coronavirus (CoV), is currently designated as a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 as per the latest International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) classification. It is probably the most recent human pneumonia virus with high outbreak potential.
This novel virus was initially identified through next-generation sequencing (NGS) and was suggested to have a possible zoonotic origin. Till date, detailed morphology and ultrastructure of this virus remain incompletely understood.
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