Since SARS-CoV-2 was discovered in December 2019, the coronavirus has caused a serious pandernic of severe respiratory infectious disease, which subsequently spread globally. The scientific community reacted immediately to perform comprehensive and exhaustive studies on SARS-CoV-2 and the diseases it caused. Benefited from the knowledge accumulated in previous studies of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, the research work of SARS-CoV-2 got extensive achievements in 2020, especially in molecular pathology. Mastering the knowledge has built a solid foundation for the drug and vaccine development against SARS-CoV-2. In this review, the research history of coronaviruses is briefly reviewed, followed by a summary of molecular pathological studies on SARS-CoV-2 in 2020, as well as the progress of drug and vaccine development against SARS-CoV-2.

coronavirus  /  SARS-CoV-2  /  SARS  /  MERS  /  vaccine