The BBC reports that a virus has been used as scaffolding to build nanoparticles. The mosaic virus normally attacks black-eyed pea plants. It’s just 30 nanometers in size (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter).

Scientists at the John Innes Centre have successfully added iron-containing molecules to the surface of this virus. The result is electronically active nanoparticles. They believe this will in the future facilitate the manufacture of nanotechnology electrical devices.

The work is yet another example of how scientists are now trying to engineer objects on the scale of atoms and molecules.