Most detailed picture of deadly novel coronavirus

LAB CULTURE: A scanning electron microscope image of the virus, grown from a lab culture. The images were released Thursday by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. They were made with scanning and transmission electron microscopes.

COVID-19 IMAGE: A scanning electron microscope image of the Covid-19 grown from a lab culture. Electron microscopes use a beam of energy to take detailed pictures of objects that can be too small to see with normal microscope.

DEADLY PATHOGEN. US researchers published new images of the coronavirus (Covid-19) that has infected tens of thousands of people in China.

MAGNIFIED: A transmission electron microscope image of the Covid-19. The images of the virus, known as 2019-nCoV, have been colorised to make them easier to view. Researchers have been growing samples of the virus in labs in order to study it, and to begin testing experimental and existing drugs against the disease. Coronaviruses are named for the crown-like shapes on their surface.