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A team of researchers in the US have found that exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein alone was enough to induce Covid-19-like symptoms, including severe inflammation of the lungs.
New York:
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is covered in tiny spike proteins. These proteins bind with receptors on our cells, starting a process that allows the virus to release its genetic material into a healthy cell.
The researchers from Old Dominion University, Virginia, US, developed a genetically modified mouse and injected it with a segment of the spike protein and analysed their response 72 hours later. Another group of mice received only saline to serve as control.