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Palli Thordarson
@PalliThordarson
Professor and Director of the UNSW RNA Institute, School of Chemistry, UNSW.
UNSW Sydney, New South Wales
thordarsongroup.org
Joined December 2014
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    1/25 Part 1 - Why does soap work so well on the SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus and indeed most viruses? Because it is a self-assembled nanoparticle in which the weakest link is the lipid (fatty) bilayer. A two part thread about soap, viruses and supramolecular chemistry #COVID19
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    2/25 The soap dissolves the fat membrane and the virus falls apart like a house of cards and "dies", or rather, we should say it becomes inactive as viruses aren’t really alive. Viruses can be active outside the body for hours, even days.
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    3/25 Disinfectants, or liquids, wipes, gels and creams containing alcohol (and soap) have a similar effects but are not really quite as good as normal soap. Apart from the alcohol and soap, the “antibacterial agents” in these products don't affect the virus structure much at all.
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    39/39 Thank you for reading my first thread. Apologies for any mistakes in the above. I might have some virology details wrong here as I am not a virologist unlike @MackayIM who I am a big fan of! But I hope this inspires you not only to use soap but to read up on chemistry!
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    4/25 Consequently, many antibacterial products are basically just an expensive version of soap in terms of how they act on viruses. Soap is the best but alcohol wipes are good when soap is not practical or handy (e.g. office receptions).
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    6/25 I point out to that while I am expert in supramolecular chemistry and the assembly of nanoparticles, I am not a virologists. The image with the first tweet is from an excellent post here which is dense with good virology info: medium.com/@edwardnirenbe…
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    5/25 But why exactly is soap so good? To explain that, I will take you through a bit of a journey through supramolecular #chemistry, nanoscience and virology. I try to explain this in generic terms as much as possible, which means leaving some specialist chemistry terms out.
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    Wow! That took of quickly. Thanks! I should mention that this thread is based on a Facebook post I did in Icelandic yesterday. That one took off too with +1K shares already but Iceland had a very rapid rise in COVID-19 cases the past week or so.
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    28/39 Soapy water is totally different. Soap contains fat-like substances knowns as amphiphiles, some structurally very similar to the lipids in the virus membrane. The soap molecules “compete” with the lipids in the virus membrane.
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    15/25 When you cough, or especially when you sneeze, tiny droplets from the airways can fly up to 10 meters (30 ft)! The larger ones are thought to be main coronavirus carriers and they can go at least 2 m (7 ft). Thus – cover your coughs & sneezes people!
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    7/25 I have always been fascinated by viruses as I see them as one of them most spectacular examples of how supramolecular chemistry and nanoscience can converge. Most viruses consist of three key building blocks: RNA, proteins and lipids.
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    31/39 The skin is quite rough and wrinkly which is why you do need a fair amount of rubbing and soaking to ensure the soap reaches very crook and nanny on the skin surface that could be hiding active viruses.
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    13/25 These new RNA and protein molecules, self-assemble with lipids (usually readily present in the cell) to form new copies of the virus. That is, the virus does not photocopy itself, it makes copies of the building blocks which then self-assemble into new viruses!
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    Palli Thordarson
    @PalliThordarson
    Mar 8, 2020
    Replying to @PalliThordarson
    21/25 For how long does the virus stay active? It depends. The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is thought to stay active on favourable surfaces for hours, possibly a day. Moisture (“dissolves”), sun light (UV light) and heat (molecular motions) all make the virus less stable.