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SUMMARY:Exploiting Cowpea mosaic virus in bio- and nano-technology: 101 th
 ings to do with a plant virus - Dr George Lomonossoff\, John Innes Centre
DTSTART:20070125T160000Z
DTEND:20070125T170000Z
UID:TALK6016@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:3901
DESCRIPTION:Abstract Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) is a bipartite RNA plant v
 irus which is a moderately important pathogen of legumes in tropical regio
 ns. However\, its main claim to fame in recent years has been the technolo
 gical uses to which it has been put. The first example of this involved th
 e expression of short antigenic sequences (epitopes) on the surface of ass
 embled virus particles and the demonstration that purified virions can pro
 vide protective immunity in experimental animals. Subsequent developments 
 in the use of the virus in biotechnology have included the development of 
 the virus as a vector for the production of whole proteins in plants\, the
  use of virus particles carrying modified RNA molecules to validate PCR-ba
 sed methods for the diagnosis of disease and the exploitation of the bipar
 tite nature of the virus to create a combined virus vector/transgenic expr
 ession system. In terms of nanotechnology\, we have made use of the fact t
 hat CPMV particles are extremely stable under a wide range of conditions t
 o carry out a series of chemical modifications to the virus surface. These
  have included the introduction of both organic and organo-metallic compou
 nds. Further we have recently demonstrated that modified virus particles c
 an be bound to solid surfaces and used to build up multilayer structures. 
 Such multilayer structures and a number of potential applications in the d
 evelopment of biosensors and nanoscale electronic devices. \n\nhttp://www.
 jic.bbsrc.ac.uk/staff/george-lomonossoff/ 
LOCATION:Department of Plant Sciences\, Large Lecture Theatre
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