What is coronavirus made from?

Coronavirus is a type of virus that causes illness in humans and animals. When you look into the microscope, the virus looks like a round thing with spikes. This is why it is called the coronavirus—corona as in crown. There are a number of different kinds of coronaviruses. Previously known coronaviruses were the severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS and the Middle East respiratory syndrome or MERS. The latest one was called the novel coronavirus, which is officially called the COVID-19.

The virus is made of the RNA genome with methylated cap and polyadenylated tail. The spikes are the peplomers, which are proteins. 

Coronavirus is transmitted via respiratory droplets. So people within six feet of a person with COVID-19 could contract the virus when they inhale the respiratory droplets produced by the sick individual. This is why transmission is quite fast. The novel coronavirus was only discovered in late 2019 in China and already it has reached 115 countries. Globally, more than 118,000 have been infected by the virus. Of this, more than 4,200 have died. 

There is no cure available for the coronavirus yet. And pharmaceutical companies as well as researchers from developed countries are all scrambling to create a vaccine for COVID-19. Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy to create a vaccine. It usually takes years to accomplish.