This is an electron microscope photograph of an Adenovirus particle.
Adenoviruses are a common cause of sore throats and serious lung infections in humans.
Fibre projections stick out from the Adenovirus particle. These projections help the virus attach to the cells lining your throat. The protein subunits in an Adenovirus virion are arranged like the faces of a simple icosahedron, a geometric structure composed of twenty equilateral triangles. This is an electron micrograph of the Herpes Simplex Virus which causes coldsores. These images by courtesy of Dr Linda Stannard, Dept. of Medical Microbiology, University of Cape Town, South Africa.