What does a virus actually look like?

This is the first time you can see real (flash-frozen) coronavirus in 3D. Viruses are very small. One thousand of them lined up next to each other would be as thick as a single hair. When scientists look for ways how to fight a virus, they use detailed 3D models. But can we see a virus for real? With cryo-em tomography and the visualization technology developed at nanographics, we can! Cryo-EM tomography data is pretty noisy, but that didn’t stop us. We used machine learning and advanced visualization algorithms to show you the most detailed view of a real SARS-CoV-2 virion, in 3D, directly from the electron microscopy scans. Instead of photons of visible light, which give things colors, this scan is made with electrons. That means that the scan does not have any color information. We added artificial colors to distinguish individual parts of the virion, which would otherwise blend in together. More info: Cryo-electron tomography data was provided by Sai L