Catalogue
Interactive Lab: Virus Anatomy
Mr Vilchez Science
Structural Analysis
Anatomy of a Virus
Viruses are incredibly simple completely relying on host cells to replicate. Hover over the parts to explore their function.
Protein Coat (Capsid)
A highly durable geometric shell constructed natively of proteins. It physically protects the payload and uses geometric spike proteins to lock onto and trick vulnerable host cells into letting the virus inside.
Genetic Material (DNA/RNA)
The biological instruction manual for building millions of new viruses. Because viruses lack ribosomes to build their own proteins, they absolutely must hijack the host cell's machinery to read this code.
Interact with the diagram above