ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to the role of viral nanoparticles (VNPs) in nanotechnology. A main theme in nanotechnology is controlled self-assembly, with the goal being to generate functional materials with a high degree of precision. A broad range of VNP platforms have been exploited or show promise in applications ranging from the development of battery electrodes to medical imaging and drug delivery. VNPs are programmable and tunable, as they can be functionalized with a broad range of molecules used for manifold applications. A whole library of VNPs has become available, offering a large variety of building blocks with varying structural and chemical properties. Chemists have also found that many VNPs are stable in a range of solvent-buffer mixtures, which is essential for chemical modification procedures. Bioconjugation chemistries that allow for site-selective covalent modification have been adapted to VNPs.
