Led by @RommieAmaro, "a team of 50 scientists has for the first time created an atomic simulation of the coronavirus nestled in a tiny airborne drop of water."
“People have literally never seen what this looks like.”
Article by @carlzimmer @13pt: nytimes.com/interactive/20…
(1/x)
“People have literally never seen what this looks like.”
Article by @carlzimmer @13pt: nytimes.com/interactive/20…
(1/x)
2/ The @nytimes article by @carlzimmer @13pt is a fantastic overview of the complexity of viruses hitching a ride in aerosols. Little drops full of virus, proteins, mucins, surfactants, lung fluid, water.
The simulations are mind-blowingly cool.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…
The simulations are mind-blowingly cool.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…
3/ And crazy complicated: "the researchers needed one of the world’s biggest supercomputers to assemble 1.3 billion atoms & track all their movements down to less than a millionth of a second."
“While molecular modeling is not a new thing, the scale of this is next-level”
“While molecular modeling is not a new thing, the scale of this is next-level”
4/ But even cooler is that it is helping understand how the virus & aerosol work together.
“What we think is that it’s actually covering itself in these mucins, and that’s acting like a protective coating for it during flight,” Dr. Amaro (@RommieAmaro) said.
“What we think is that it’s actually covering itself in these mucins, and that’s acting like a protective coating for it during flight,” Dr. Amaro (@RommieAmaro) said.
5/ h/t @linseymarr & via @jljcolorado.
"Dr. Marr said the simulation might eventually allow scientists to predict the threat of future pandemics. They could build atomic models of newly discovered viruses and put them into aerosols to watch them behave."
"Dr. Marr said the simulation might eventually allow scientists to predict the threat of future pandemics. They could build atomic models of newly discovered viruses and put them into aerosols to watch them behave."
https://twitter.com/linseymarr/status/1466087831688916993
6/ Also worth watching this overview simulation from the @RommieAmaro lab here. Sound on for narration and dramatic music.
Link to the associated preprint of the paper: biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
Link to the associated preprint of the paper: biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
https://twitter.com/RommieAmaro/status/1459283884164538368?s=20
@RommieAmaro 7/ Caption from the video: "The simulated drop of liquid includes the coronavirus and its spike proteins (light blue), long mucins (red), sticky surfactants (green), and a mixture of molecules from deep lung fluid (yellow)"
Virus (purple) embedded in the complex mixture in water
Virus (purple) embedded in the complex mixture in water
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