First Hi-Res Picture of a Virus's Shell

Handle with Care: To protect itself, a virus like the one shown here uses a protein shell to seal off its genetic payload  J. Tao and J. Pan (Take a closer look!) After three years of piecing together hundreds of individual x-ray images, researchers were able to produce the first high-resolution picture of the five million atoms that make up a virus's protective shell. The yellow- and red-colored ribbons were highlighted to illustrate how four identical proteins join to form the building block of the blue-hued shell, or capsid, of the Ps V-F penicillin fungus-attacking virus. read more

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