Scientists have found a way to neutralize the SARS-COV-2 virus in the air: it dies in less than a second at this temperature

Heat has long been known to neutralize COVID-19, but previous studies have exposed the coronavirus to high temperatures for one to 20 minutes, reports phys.org.

Such a duration is not a practical solution, since long-term heating is an expensive and complicated process. Han and his team showed that heating a coronavirus for less than a second deactivated it completely. Thus, a potential way has emerged to reduce the continued spread of COVID-19, especially in the air.

Representatives from Medistar Corporation approached executives and scientists from the Texas University of Agriculture and Mechanics in spring 2020 and offered to collaborate and explore the possibility of short-term warming to destroy COVID-19. Shortly after this proposal, Mr. Han and his team got down to business and established a system to check the feasibility of such a procedure.

Using a process developed by scientists, a part of a stainless steel tube carrying a solution with a coronavirus is heated to a high temperature and then immediately cooled. This method allows the coronavirus to heat up for a very short time.

The research team found that during the rapid warming process, the coronavirus is completely neutralized much faster than previously thought. Preliminary results appeared two months after the conceptual experiments.

A. Han explained that when the solution is heated to nearly 72 degrees Celsius for about half a second, the virus titer, or its content in the solution, drops by 100,000. together. This is enough to neutralize the virus and prevent it from spreading.

“The potential benefits are huge,” Han said. – I was interested at what temperature and how quickly coronavirus can be exposed to very quickly decontaminate it. He also wanted to know if that strategy to neutralize the coronavirus would work in practice. Of course, the biggest stimulus was the current situation in the world. “

The researchers’ work appeared on the cover of the May issue of the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering.

The less than one second heating method is not only a more efficient and practical solution to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the air, but can also be applied to existing systems such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

In addition, it may be suitable for neutralizing other airborne viruses, such as the influenza virus. Han and his colleagues hope that the heating method they have developed will be applicable worldwide.

“Influenza is less dangerous, but it still takes lives every year, so if our research leads to an innovative air purification system, it will be a great achievement, and I mean not just the coronavirus, but all transmitted viruses. by air in general, “he said.

In the future, the scientists plan to build a microfluidic test chip that will allow viruses to heat up for even shorter periods, such as several milliseconds. They hope to establish a temperature that will neutralize the virus even in such a short time.