Captured on video: Virus-sized particle trying to enter cell

Virus video

Researchers captured video of a virus-like particle trying to enter a cell (Image courtesy of Kevin Welsher)

RESEARCHERS AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY achieved an unprecedented look at a virus-like particle as it tries to break into and infect a cell. The video reveals the particle zipping around in a rapid, erratic manner until it encounters a cell, bounces and skids along the surface, and either lifts off again or, in much less time than it takes to blink an eye, slips into the cell’s interior. The work, conducted by Professor of Chemistry Haw Yang and postdoctoral researcher Kevin Welsher, was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and published in the Feb. 23, 2014, issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

–By Catherine Zandonella