The recent paper "A molecular pore spans the double membrane of the coronavirus replication organelle" of PhD student Georg Wolff in the virus replication group of Montse Barcena in close collaboration with the virology group of Eric Snijder won the LUMC "Best Article Prize Non Clinical 2020". The prizes are yearly awarded to the best original article in the past academic year with first and last authors from the LUMC that has the highest ranking and impact (factor) in the field. The prize is 250 euro.
The article describes the presence of a pore in the double membrane replication organelle of the coronavirus that enables the RNA to reach the cytoplasm. The paper elucidates a long standing question on how RNA could escape from these double membrane vesicles and the discovery of a pore provides a new handle for drug development.
At the recent NEMI (Netherlands Electron Microsopy Infrastructure) event on 25 november 2020, a figure from the above mentioned paper was awarded the first prize in the national EM photo competition. The prize is 500 euro and a certificate.