The protein make up of the new Wuhan coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, can tell us a lot about the similarities and differences between the new virus, SARS and MERS.
Ebenezer Tumban is a virologist who studies the chemistry of different infectious viral diseases in order to develop better vaccines and improve our understanding of virus mutations. He recently wrote a guest post on the MTU research blog explaining the good news and bad news about new findings on coronavirus chemistry. Much of his work focuses on viruses that hit impoverished communities around the world and he wants to help explain how viruses like coronavirus spread.
Tumban is an associate professor of biological sciences at Michigan Tech and visiting adjunct associate professor in the deptartment of molecular genetics and microbiology at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.