As the world attempts to cope with the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers about to start PhDs and postdocs face particular challenges.
Key numbers about the biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the infection of a single human host by the virus have been compiled from the peer-reviewed literature.
SARS-CoV-2 has evolved to cleverly mimic the FURIN-cleavage site in human ENaC-α, unlike any prior coronavirus strain, shedding new light on the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients.
Clinical data of SARS-CoV-2 patients presenting atypical symptoms must be recorded systematically to support continuing research investigating neurological complications associated with COVID-19.
SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 is expressed in nasal olfactory epithelia, tongue keratinocytes and small intestine enterocytes, connected with the COVID-19 patient phenotypes such as anosmia and diarrhea.
The human placenta negligibly co-expresses the transcripts encoding the canonical cell-entry mediators for SARS-CoV-2, which explains why mothers with COVID-19 rarely transmit the virus to the fetus.
The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated the need for a global system to monitor the dynamics of susceptibility and immunity, as well as infection, during epidemics and pandemics.
