Coronaviruses represent a large family of viruses that elicit respiratory illness in humans, including the common cold and more serious diseases, such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). This group of viruses can also infect animals and are zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted between animals and humans, as was shown to be the case for MERS and SARS . In fact, some species of animals, such as bats, act as reservoirs for carrying wide varieties of viruses, and severe viral outbreaks in the human population such as for SARS and MERS tend to occur when these viruses jump from animals to humans when given the opportunity due to close interaction. The novel coronavirus (currently referred to as 2019-nCoV) was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and appeared to initially affect people who had visited a seafood and animal market selling live game, but person-to-person spreading occurred as well. Investigations on th...
Many in the chemistry community are making their contribution to the global fight against coronavirus by staying safely at home. Many of those will be able to work from home. And many others – often those designated as key workers by governments – a re going into their labs, offices and other workplaces to carry on essential work. Chemists are helping to keep the lights on – literally. There are plenty of scientists whose jobs keep energy and electricity flowing to our houses, allowing those of us at home to communicate with distant colleagues and loved ones, educate our children with online learning support, and of course find light relief. Netflix is powered by chemistry. They’re also keeping water flowing in and out of our homes and hospitals. Science technicians are carefully monitoring and managing a clean and abundant water supply that supports everything: research, healthcare, and daily life. Imagine the prospect – as many millions face in India and other countri...