Skip to main content
Search
Audio Interview

The current understanding of the biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus

Published on March 29, 2020   20 min

Other Talks in the Playlist: Interviews on Covid-19

Please wait while the transcript is being prepared...
0:00
Interviewer: Professor Palese, thank you very much for taking the time to record this interview, I am going to start by asking you quickly: What are some of the differences that we know at the moment in the biology of this new strain compared to other RNA viruses?'. Prof. Palese: So we are talking, obviously, about the virus which causes COVID which means 'coronavirus induced disease 2019', and it is really something completely new for us, in the sense that this is a virus which has appeared in China, and has marched all over the world in a very brief period of time. Now we know about other RNA viruses, such as the coronaviruses, meaning viruses which have as genetic information, RNA. The prototypes of those viruses with similar properties, similar characteristics are influenza viruses, and influenza viruses are also RNA viruses and they also cause respiratory infection and respiratory disease. Nevertheless, the SARS-CoV-2, the one which is responsible for Covid, for the coronavirus induced disease 19, is different. So it's not only apples and oranges, but it's really very, very different. What we know about the influenza viruses can only help us to a certain extent,
Show
Hide

The current understanding of the biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus

Embed in course/own notes