Feb. 12, 2015
Big discoveries come in little (capsid) packages
Adeno-associated virus type 2 at 3.0 A (xie, et al, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002; 99:10405-10.) Courtesy David Pintel It’s an understatement to say viruses are small. But an average virus dwarfs the diminutive variety known as parvoviruses, which are among the most minuscule pathogens known to science. Tucked inside a protective protein shell, or capsid, parvoviruses contain a single DNA strand of about 5,000 nucleotides. If parvo’s genetic material is like an hour-long stroll around your neighborhood, a bigger virus like herpes is equivalent to walking from St. Louis to Columbia, Missouri.
