Constantly being told to wash your hands? Us too. So we’re diving into the chemistry behind why soap is so effective against viruses like the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

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Executive Producers:
George Zaidan
Hilary Hudson

Producer:
Andrew Sobey

Writer/Host:
Samantha Jones, PhD

Scientific consultants:
Pall Thordarson, PhD
Michelle Boucher, PhD
Leila Duman, PhD

Special Thanks:
Ruben Rodriguez

SOURCES:
Inactivation of human and avian influenza viruses by potassium oleate of natural soap component through exothermic interaction
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6160177/

Effect of Surfactants on the Survival and Sorption of Viruses
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es0114097

The handiwork of good health
https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/The_handiwork_of_good_health

Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195670120300463

Efficacy of various disinfectants against SARS coronavirus
https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(05)00044-7/fulltext

How coronavirus hijacks your cells
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/11/science/how-coronavirus-hijacks-your-cells.html

CDC report on coronavirus research
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/grows-virus-cell-culture.html

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html

WHO general coronavirus info
https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus

The science of soap – here’s how it kills the coronavirus
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/12/science-soap-kills-coronavirus-alcohol-based-disinfectants?CMP=share_btn_tw

Suspension vs carrier tests (for bacteria)
https://aem.asm.org/content/aem/54/11/2856.full.pdf

Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6483/1260

Mechanisms of Virus Assembly
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4382372/