SALT LAKE CITY – Researchers at the University of Utah found that temperature has a major effect on the structure of particles such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a new study.
Working with researchers at the University of California, Davis, the U. scientists tested how temperature and humidity affect the structure of such particles on surfaces and found that even moderate rises in temperature disrupted the structure of the virus.
The findings were published in a Nov. 28 paper in the journal Biochemical Biophysical Research Communications.
Michael Vershinin, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Utah, co-authored the paper along with U. colleagues Abhianyu Sharma, Benjamin Preece, Heather Swann, and Saveez Saffarian. Vershinin told KSL.com that the study has received national and international attention since it was published.
“We are very happy with the impact this is having,” he said.
According to a U. press release on the findings, the SARS-CoV-2 virus must maintain its structure, “a specific web of proteins arranged in a specific order,” to remain infectious. When that structure falls apart, it is more difficult to transmit the virus.
“You would expect the temperature to make a huge difference, and that’s what we saw. To the point where the virus’s packaging was completely destroyed by even moderate increases in temperature,” Vershinin said in the release. “What’s surprising is how little heat was needed to break them down – surfaces that are warm to the touch, but not hot. The packaging of this virus is very temperature sensitive.”
The Utah researchers not only studied the impact of temperature on the virus, but also created the virus-like particles used in the study. This allowed them to study SARS-CoV-2 without the risk of an accidental outbreak. The process of that creation was detailed in a separate article published this month.
You would expect temperature to make a huge difference, and that’s what we saw.
–Professor Michael Vershinin, University of Utah
“When you think about what a virus is, it usually has a genome and then a package,” Vershinin explains. “The survival of the virus as it travels from host to host is in many ways related to how the genome is packaged. So it’s not a 100% replica, but it’s a really good model for how the virus interacts with the environment. ” The particles were essentially the virus without its genome.
The scientists found that humidity had little effect on surfaces, but they still believe that humidity has an impact on transmissibility when the virus is in the air.
“From the very beginning, people have theorized that the main effect of humidity on viruses, and the reason it matters, is that it affects how these aerosols dry out,” Vershinin said.
SARS-CoV-2 rides on aerosol droplets that are ejected when people talk, breathe, cough and sneeze; Scientists believe that those aerosols linger longer in humid conditions and evaporate faster in dry conditions.
Does this research mean that it is easier to transmit to the coronavirus in cold weather?
“The implication of this work is likely to be the case,” Vershinin said, although he cautioned that there are several steps between his research and final proof. But the U. study “doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” he said, and other research suggests that too.
Vershinin said the U. study is important because it examines the virus at a much more detailed and specific level than most others. “Connecting to the mechanism, exactly how this happens – showing that at least one of the mechanisms is likely to involve the degradation of the virus particles themselves, at an individual level, is very important because it helps us understand what is really going on. “
He said scientists have made great strides in understanding the virus in such a short time, but believes SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses will be actively studied in the coming years. “Viruses are complicated,” he says sadly. “The vaccine is not the end of the research, and not the end of the questions.”
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Graham Dudley