New coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) mapped out
(PHYSorg.com Biology)

Jean and Peter Medawar wrote in 1977 that a virus is `simply a piece of bad news wrapped up in proteins.` The `bad news` in the SARS-CoV-2 case is the new coronavirus carries its mysterious genome in the form of a very long ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule. Grappling with COVID-19 pandemic, the world seems to be lost with no sense of direction in uncovering what this coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) is composed of. Being an RNA virus, SARS-Cov-2 enters host cells and replicates a genomic RNA and produces many smaller RNAs (called `subgenomic RNAs`). These subgenomic RNAs are used for the synthesis of various proteins (spikes, envelopes, etc.) that are required for the beginning of SARS-Cov-2 lineage. Thus, the smaller RNAs make good targets for interfering with the new coronavirus`s conquering of our immune system. Though recent studies reported the sequence of the RNA genome, they only predicted where their genes might be, leaving the world still drowning in disorientation.