Scientists have assembled the highest-resolution image yet of the protein sheath that surrounds viral DNA, accurate right down to the last of its five million atoms.
Called a capsid, the sheath protects viral DNA from cellular defense mechanisms. If scientists can crack it, they might have a clear shot at the virus — and now they know what it looks like.
The image, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was made from hundreds of crystallographic x-rays, each providing a multi-layered picture of the capsid's structure. Combined, they formed a fully three-dimensional image.
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