The importance of DNA and RNA structure in COVID-19
Before describing the importance of knowing the DNA and RNA structures of the virus, let’s briefly explain what this is.
The DNA is a complex, long-chained molecule that contains the genetic ‘blueprint’ for building and maintaining all living organisms. Found in nearly all cells, DNA carries the instructions needed to create proteins (used to exterminate viruses), specific molecules essential to the development and functioning of the body and transfers hereditary information between generation to generation.
The DNA is the central to biotechnology and medicine. It does not only provides the basic blueprint for all life, it is a fundamental determinant of how the body functions and the disease process. The understanding of the structure and function of DNA has helped revolutionise the investigation of disease pathways, assess an individual’s genetic susceptibility to specific diseases and diagnose genetic disorders. This has also helped critically to the identification of pathogens.
SparanoGenomic Health, https://www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/science/summary/dna/
The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the research to the coronavirus and this has been an advantage to the discovery for a DNA blueprint to eliminate this virus. Coronaviruses possess the largest genomes (26.4–31.7 kb) among all known RNA viruses, with G + C contents varying from 32% to 43%. Variable numbers of small ORFs are present between the various conserved genes and, downstream to the nucleocapsid gene in different coronavirus lineages. The viral genome contains distinctive features, including a unique N-terminal fragment within the spike protein. Genes for the major structural proteins in all coronaviruses occur in the 5′–3′ order as S, E, M, and N5
2020 Elsevier Taiwan LLC. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1684118220300827
And the main reason to know the structure of viruses is because a virus is able to encode all the information for making a relatively large capsid in a small number of genes. This efficient use of genetic information is important, since only a limited amount of RNA or DNA, and therefore a limited number of genes, can fit into a virion capsid.
This helps to understand the conduct of a virus and create a defense mechanism against many more diseases related to coronaviruses, related ones or even unrelated whom act similar.
2000, W. H. Freeman and Company. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21523/
