Vodka won’t protect you from coronavirus, and 4 other things to know about hand sanitizer
As concern about coronavirus grows, hand sanitizer is in high demand. Biologist Jeffrey Gardner explains why alcohol is a key ingredient in hand sanitizer, and why he doesn’t recommend making your own supply at home.
1. Why is alcohol the main ingredient in most hand sanitizers?
Alcohol is effective at killing different types of microbes, including both viruses and bacteria, because it unfolds and inactivates their proteins. This process, which is called denaturation, will cripple and often kill the microbe because its proteins will unfold and stick together. Heat can also denature some proteins – for example, when you cook an egg, the solidified egg whites are denatured proteins.
2. Alcohol doesn’t kill some microbes very well - why not?
There are different types of bacteria and viruses, ...