To help the search for anti-viral COVID-19 treatments, researchers at Bristol University have used virtual reality (VR) techniques to step inside a SARS-CoV-2 enzyme.

According to an article on The Engineer, by viewing a 3D model of this enzyme it is hoped that this particular feature will help scientists to plan production into treatments by seeing how their drugs could bind with the main protease of the enzyme. 

If the protease of an enzyme stops working, then the virus stops reproducing.

The benefits of VR (which are detailed in Episode #43 of Engineering Matters) in an industry such as this include reduced completion times for projects, but also added collaboration with clients which scientists will be able to experience through ‘Narupa’ – which is the VR software developed by the researchers at Bristol University.

“An exciting aspect is that it also allows researchers to collaborate in new ways: using cloud computing, they can tackle a drug discovery problem together at the same time when they are in different locations – potentially even in different countries – working simultaneously in the same virtual molecular environment”, said Professor Adrian Mulholland who is the lead author for this study.