Image of the Day: Coronavirus in 3D

At Bessy II, a synchrotron radiation facility in Berlin, scientists use X-rays to study the structure of SARS-CoV-2.

Written byAmy Schleunes

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The architecture of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 has been mapped in 3D using high intensity X-ray imaging, according to a report published on March 20 in Science. The enzyme is “an attractive drug target among coronaviruses,” the authors write, because inhibiting it would block the virus’s ability to replicate.

L. Zhang et al., “Crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 main protease provides a basis for design of improved α-ketoamide inhibitors,” Science, doi:10.1126/science.abb3405, 2020.

Amy Schleunes is an intern at The Scientist. Email her at aschleunes@the-scientist.com.

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Meet the Author

Amy Schleunes
A former intern at The Scientist, Amy studied neurobiology at Cornell University and later earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa. She is a Los Angeles–based writer, editor, and communications strategist who collaborates on nonfiction books for Harper Collins and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and also teaches writing at Johns Hopkins University CTY. Her favorite projects involve sharing the insights of science and medicine.
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