Highlights

Virus-like particles can assemble from protein and RNA as in nature, even when the RNA is immobilized in defined microspots.
A. Mueller et al., ACS Nano 5 (2011) 4512, “Inducible Site-Selective Bottom-Up Assembly of Virus-Derived Nanotube Arrays on RNA-Equipped Wafers”

A specially tailored His (Ni(II)-binding) coat induces electroless Nickel deposition on plant virus particles even in absence of catalytic particles.
A. Kadri et al., Virus Res. 157 (2011) 35, “Engineered Tobacco mosaic virus mutants with distinct physical characteristics in planta and enhanced metallization properties”

Adding plant viruses to a suspension of magnetic nanoparticles increases the viscosity in presence of magnetic fields.
Z. Wu et al., ACS Nano 8 (2010) 4531, “Enhancing the magnetoviscosity of ferrofluids by the addition of biological nanotubes”