Aspectos biológicos da COVID-19

In late 2019, a group of pneumonia patients of unknown cause was identified in China. The alert for the arrival of a difficult episode in the history of the planet was lit. Analyzes were performed to isolate and identify the new coronavirus, popularized SARS-CoV-2. In a short time, due to the constant displacement of people across countries, the disease has gained terrible proportions and has already caused many fatal victims around the world, due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - SARS), caused by the new coronavirus, reaching the pandemic level. Science around the world has been working relentlessly to learn more about SARS-CoV-2, trying to find new ways to treat or protect populations as soon as possible. Scientific production regarding the disease, the causative virus and several aspects related to both has grown exponentially in the dissemination platforms. We believe that the main tasks of the academy in this moment of crisis are to produce useful and transformative scientific information and to transmit knowledge to different segments of society about the moment we live in. We believe that informed subjects are citizens aware of their role in the midst of the pandemic. This didactic material was produced by professionals from different areas of knowledge and aims to present different scientific aspects related to the virus, the disease, the natural hosts, the diagnosis, and the genetic and biochemical aspects. It can be used as a subsidy for teachers and students of high school and undergraduate courses in biological and health areas.