[jfoldbar (OP)]

ive been trying to learn about spike protiens but every site or video seems to give conflicting information. so id like to see if i can learn it here. from my research i dont think they are specific to covid, but i ask here because they have only really been discussed in the last 3 years.
i will try to summarise questions....
1, what are spike protiens, 2, are they god/bad/neutral. 3, how are they made,4, do they occur naturally. where. 5, if they are bad, how do we get rid of them, 6, anything else you may think of.

thankyou

[Bored chemist]

they have only really been discussed in the last 3 years.

By whom?

[evan_au]

I think that "spike protein" only hit the public press since COVID hit the public press in early 2020.

Google ngram says discussion about "spike protein" has been around a lot longer:

ngram_Spike_protein.png (13.15 kB . 1076x378 - viewed 2496 times)
 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=spike+protein&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3

The Coronavirus family of viruses is notable for their crown-shaped appearance under an electron microscope, with spikes sticking out, like a jewelled crown ("corona" comes from Latin, and means "crown"). These spikes are how coronaviruses mate with cells, and then enter them to infect them. The proteins which make up these spike are called Spike (S) proteins.

Other viruses have a variety of different shapes, and different mechanisms for entering a cell.
- Tobacco Mosaic Virus (one of the first to have its structure deduced, using X-Ray crystallography). It looks like a packet of cigarettes (no spike), when crystallised.
- Ebola looks like a bowl of spaghetti (no visible spike)
- Influenza virus does have projecting proteins, but they are described as hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N) proteins, hence variants of influenza are described like H5N1.

>correction from bored chemist

[Bored chemist]

I think Ebola has spike protein
https://www.reuters.com/article/health-ebola-dc-idUKN0937961120080709

, are they god/bad/neutral

From the viruss perspective they are very good.
From the patient's point of view, they aren't.

3, how are they made

The same way a virus makes any other protein; they hijack the biochemical pathways of the cells they infect.

4, do they occur naturally

Yes; they are part of many viruses.

5, if they are bad, how do we get rid of them

Our immune system destroys them (if we are lucky)
To completely eliminate them I think we need to wait until the sun goes red giant and bakes them all.

[evan_au]

Google ngram

Unfortunately, Google ngram only has results up to 2019.
Spike protein really hit the headlines in 2020