2020 Online Salon
Two Of A Kind — The Similarities and Differences Between SARS-CoV and SARS-Cov-2
Project Details
- Entrant Name: Jennifer Barolet
- Membership Type: Student Submission
- Address: Toronto, Ontario Canada
- Client: Faulty Advisor: Derek Ng
- Copyright: 2020 Jennifer Barolet
- Medium/software used: Cinema 4D, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Procreate, 3D Protein Imager
- Final presentation format: Print, two-page spread in a popular science magazine (e.g., Scientific American)
- Primary Audience: Educated Lay Audience
Project Description
The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has recently caused the current outbreak of COVID-19, shares many similarities with the SARS coronavirus of 2002-2003 (SARS-CoV), including 76% amino acid sequence identity in the spike protein. A key to tackling the current pandemic is to understand the receptor recognition mechanism of the virus, which regulates its infectivity and pathogenesis. The binding affinity of SARS-CoV-2 with the ACE2 receptor is stronger than SARS-CoV and may explain the larger global influence of COVID-19 than the initial SARS outbreak.
I created this two-page illustration for a popular science magazine to highlight how amino acid changes to the viral sequences may ultimately affect spike protein binding affinity to the ACE2 receptor at the molecular level.
