Virus-nanotechnology
A genetically modified virus "sculpts" balls and spikes out of gold
Anatoly Glossev, Vesti
Scientists have created a genetically modified strain of the virus that creates hollow nanoconstructions of balls and spikes out of gold. They can be useful in a variety of fields, from the production of solar panels to wastewater treatment. The achievement is described in a scientific article published in the journal Nanoscale by a group led by Elaine Haberer from the University of California at Riverside.
As you know, all viruses are parasites. They cannot reproduce without a host cell. The M13 virus belongs to bacteriophages, that is, it parasitizes bacteria. This "uninvited guest" also infects E.coli, which reproduces perfectly in the laboratory. This makes it a convenient object for genetic engineering.
Researchers have long been able to use M13 for the production of gold nanoparticles. To do this, changes are made in its DNA, thanks to which the proteins of the viral envelope begin to "stick" to very small gold particles. As a result, the virus is clothed in a kind of shell made of precious metal. It turns out a hollow gold nanoparticle filled with a virus from the inside.
A picture of the gold "armor" of the modified M13 under an electron microscope (left) and their schematic image (right). Illustration by Haberer Lab.
As reported in the press release, previously M13 was used only for the production of gold wire with a length of about one micrometer. This was due to the fact that this virus particle itself has an elongated shape.
In other scientific papers, it has been shown that M13 can be made to acquire an approximately spherical shape if it is forced to mutate by adding chloroform to the medium. But before the work of Haberer and colleagues, no one tried to force such a "spherical" form of the virus to produce gold nanoparticles.
The authors have taken this step. They added chloroform to the water and with the help of an electron microscope observed how the virus puts on "armor" in the form of a sphere of balls and spikes, having a diameter of about 60 nanometers. Then the scientists demonstrated that the transformation did not disrupt the ability of the virus to "grow" gold.
Such gold nanoparticles can make it cheaper and easier to manufacture supercapacitors, photocatalysts and solar cells. Researchers have already demonstrated that the ability of such particles to accelerate certain chemical reactions under the influence of light can be used for effective wastewater treatment. In addition, scientists hope that the method used can be extended to work with other bacteriophages.
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