Newswise — A coronavirus uses protein “spikes” to grab and infect cells. Despite their name, those spikes aren’t stiff and pointy. They’re shaped like chicken drumsticks with the meaty part facing out ...

Far from being stiff and pointy, a coronavirus's infectious spikes are shaped like chicken drumsticks with the meaty part facing out, and the meaty part can tilt every which way on its slender stalk.

At left, an image made with cryogenic electron tomography (cryo-ET) reveals that some coronavirus particles bristle with spikes, while others are almost bald. At right, researchers used animation ...