Molecular-level observation of the self-assembly of a virus-like particle
Roi Asor, Dan Loewenthal, Diana Melnyk, Tiong Kit Tan, Philipp Kukura · 2026
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Description
Asor and co-authors watch one virus-like shell build up, part by part, in real time. Cell build-up by self-join is a base rule of live form. Virus shells are the stock case for that rule in labs. Yet the paths and pace of shell growth had stayed out of view. The team pairs mass light checks with a trap for lone bits. That pair tracks each shell as it forms, at part scale.
Weak, flip-back links steer the build, the team finds. Those links let the shell test and pick a few closed mid forms. Shifts in pace, set by shell shape, pace the whole build. Each step then locks in as a one-way pass in time. Gaps in time split the first closed forms from the last.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Roi Asor, Dan Loewenthal, Diana Melnyk, Tiong Kit Tan, Philipp Kukura |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 75 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |