4. Engineering Viruses and VLPs for Enhanced Biotemplate Properties
Improved understanding of TMV and BSMV structural biology and molecular biology has informed a number of strategies to control and enhance biotemplate properties. These include improved structural stability to enable synthesis of more diverse nanomaterials, control of VLP architecture and enhanced uniform coating to control physical properties, and more versatile conjugation capabilities to tune function. These modifications are powered by the flexibility of the CP-encoding nucleic acids, which can be readily engineered via genetic tools.