How the SARS-CoV-2 virus acquires its spherical shape

For centuries, coronaviruses have triggered health crises and economic challenges, with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that spreads COVID-19, being a recent example. One small protein in SARS-CoV-2, the Membrane protein, or M protein, is the most abundant and plays a crucial role in how the virus acquires its spherical structure. Nonetheless, this protein’s properties are not well understood. A research team led by a physicist at the University of California, Riverside, has devised a new method to make large quantities of M protein, and has characterized the protein’s physical interactions with the membrane — the envelope, or “skin,” — of the virus. The team’s theoretical modeling and simulations show how these interactions are likely contributing to the virus assembling itself. The researchers report in their paper, published in Science Advances, that when the M protein, which is adjacent to the spike protein on SARS-CoV-2, gets lodged in the membrane, it coaxes the membrane...