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Micro World

How small is a human papillomavirus?

A human papillomavirus is about 55 nm across.

What is measured: non-enveloped virion diameter

Human Papillomavirus (55 nm) drawn to scale beside a ribosome (25 nm) and a flu virus (100 nm)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Ribosome (25 nm), Human Papillomavirus (55 nm) and Flu virus (100 nm).

Compare

How big is that, really?

  • About 55% of the width of a flu virus
  • As wide as about 2 ribosomes side by side
  • About 28× as wide as a DNA double helix

Learn

Facts about Human Papillomavirus

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection and some strains can cause cervical cancer.

Source: ViralZone - Papillomavirus; CDC - HPV

Micro World

NameSizeCompared with Human Papillomavirus
Silver Nanoparticle40 nm0.73×
Fibrinogen Molecule45 nm0.82×
Silicon Nanowire50 nm0.91×
West Nile Virus50 nm0.91×
Human Papillomavirus55 nmthis page
Cyanophage P-SSP760 nm1.1×
Silica Nanoparticle100 nm1.8×
Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle100 nm1.8×
Lassa Virus100 nm1.8×
Hantavirus100 nm1.8×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Human Papillomavirus or Fibrinogen Molecule?

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More sizes like this