Rendered in a decorative sepia.
The virion (virus particle SARS-Cov-2) has characteristic faceting and a corona of spikes. The spikes are trimers (three identical proteins wound together) that allow the virus to attach to a cell surface after binding to the ACE2 receptor. Once it enters the cell, its RNA is released and directs the production of new virus particles. The total diameter of the virus is 130nm. This novel coronavirus is the cause of pandemic COVID-19.