The Thinker (Jun 2020)
Tomorrow’s Medicine Today: Nanomedicine in the Fight against Covid-19
Abstract
The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has so far infected more than four million people worldwide, and the pandemic shows no signs of stopping. There is currently no known cure for Covid-19. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the spread of Covid-19 can be controlled by a number of precautionary measures, including frequent handwashing, the spraying of surfaces or objects with disinfectants, and the wearing of face masks. The SARS-CoV-2 virus structure consists of spike proteins on the surface, membrane glycoproteins, small envelope proteins, nucleocapsid phosphoproteins and RNA. Many researchers and pharmaceutical companies around the world are focusing on this structure to develop a potential medical weapon to fight Covid-19. Nanomedicine – which refers to the application of nanotechnology to achieve innovation in healthcare – is proving important in this medical research. The use of nanomedicine in the fight against Covid-19 includes the design of nanotechnology-based masks, diagnostics devices, disinfectants, sanitisers, vaccines and drugs. According to Prof. Thomas Webster – a nanomedicine specialist at Northeastern University – the virus behind Covid-19 consists of a structure of a similar scale to nanoparticles, at a nanoscale of 1-100nm. Nanoparticles could attach to SARS-CoV-2 viruses and disrupt their structure, making it difficult for the virus to survive and reproduce in the body.
