Keller and colleagues examined specifically the proteins that make up the viral envelope the outermost layer of the virus. And the outermost point at the envelope is the spoke protein, the coronavirus’s key tool in infecting the human cell. The researchers said virus adsorption at non-living surfaces most likely involves the spike protein. “Understanding S1 spike protein interaction with fomite surfaces thus represents an important milestone on the road to fighting the spread of Covid-19,” they write in their paper.
To examine the adsorption of virus particles on non-living surfaces, the research used high-speed atomic force microscopy. The surfaces in the experiments were brought into contact with electrolytes carrying proteins that the researchers had isolated from the virus. To understand how coughed-out, virus-laden droplets would interact with these surfaces when landing on them, the researchers adjusted the salt concentrations and pH values of the electrolytes so that