Viruses and Nanotechnology (Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology)

Viral nanoparticles (VNPs) serve as excellent nanobuilding blocks for materials design and fabrication. The main advantages are their nanometer-range size, the propensity to self-assemble into monodisperse nanoparticles of discrete shape and size, the high degree of symmetry and polyvalency, the relative ease of producing large quantities, the exceptional stability and robustness, biocompatibility, and bioavailability. Last but not least, the particles present programmable units, which can be modified by either genetic modification or chemical bioconjugation methods.