SARS COV-2: Exploring the Virus of the Century

Coronaviruses comprise a large family of viruses that cause respiratory and intestinal infections in animals and humans. This recent outbreak of unusual respiratory disease plaguing the entire world has been named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on the basis of phylogenetic analysis of related coronaviruses. Its transmission occurs mainly through airborn, fomite and other modes. Structurally, it is similar to other coronaviruses and has four major structural proteins; the spike surface glycoprotein (S), small envelope protein (E), matrix protein (M) and nucleocapsid protein (N). The M protein is most abundant and is responsible for intracellular formation of virus particles. S protein induces antibody generation and is involved in intracellular virus entry. Drug combinations are being tried on the basis of structural and genomic knowledge of the virus. Various researchers have found that the SARS CoV2 has many strains among which L type is most pathogenic and D614 type is most infective. All this information has been collected in this review to understand the virus behind this calamity in depth and to make it handy for the researchers to search literature related to SARS COV2.