Researchers believe they've identified the mechanisms that allow the SARS-CoV-2 virus to be so effective at making us sick.
Like an army commander developing strategies, the COVID virus defends itself by developing strategies against the human immune system in a molecular arms race, wrote professor Kai Tittmann, lead researcher of a team at the University of Göttingen and University Medical Center Göttingen that looked into how the coronavirus defends itself against the human body.
The virus is like a chameleon, constantly mutating, enabling it to infect human cells more effectively and rapidly.
Mr. Tittmann's team found these processes possible due to protective switches within the virus that shield it from the human immune system's attack systems.
The virus uses the protein to remove other viral proteins in infected cells.
At the same time, the virus creates a secondary shield using sulfur and oxygen atoms and a single nitrogen atom, further preventing free radicals from damaging it.
Armed with the knowledge of how the switches work, Mr. Tittmann's team went to work to determine if any molecules could bind to the protective switches, inhibiting the virus' process.
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