ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an overview of the different viral nanoparticle (VNP) building blocks that are currently in use for nanotechnology. In contrast to other microbes, viruses do not have a cellular metabolism by themselves; rather, they are obligate intracellular parasites, that is, they need the host cell for replication. Virus genomes encode all the information required to facilitate the particle proceeding through its life cycle. Virus genomes are highly diverse in their nucleic acid composition. In nanotechnology, chimeric virus technology is also used to finetune and alter VNP surface properties. The applications of Cowpea mosaic virus are manifold, including presentation platforms, building blocks for the construction of multilayered arrays, and imaging tools for medicine. Tobacco mosaic virus particles have been extensively studied for manifold potential applications spanning the fields of medicine and materials.