A Tale of Two Viruses

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.

Hi. My name is severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. But since we are friends, you can call me Corona. You might have not seen me, but I am inside you. I don't speak, but you can hear me inside your head. First things first. I am a virus, a mere 30-ish kilobases/7-8 kilobytes of genetic data encoded within a single strand of RNA, coated in some protein and fat. Fat is really important for me; it keeps me safe and helps me connect to your cells. That's why I don't like alcohol and soap; in essence, they dissolve my skin. But, doubt not, I am severe.

You might ask yourself how I got inside you. It wasn't that hard. Remember last week? It might have been Alice who just came from Milan Fashion Week, or Bob who came to work despite feeling under the weather. I know you love hugging your friends and I love you for it.

I didn't really like your skin. Nothing personal, but your skin cells are not that friendly. I like your eyes better. They have the necessary mucous membrane to get me to your lung epithelial cells. Your lungs are where the magic...