Model of an adenovirus magnified 3 million times

Adenovirus model, magnified three million times, made originally for Living Body exhibition, 1985.

Since being discovered in 1953, one hundred types of adenoviruses have been found, 47 of which affect humans. A body must fight off an adenovirus itself as antibiotics are ineffective. Adenoviruses are only visible under an electron microscope and this model represents an adenovirus enlarged three million times. All adenoviruses are this shape – icosahedral, or twenty-sided. The model was made at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London.