Oxford scientists discover how viruses build themselves without a blueprint

Scientists have captured virus-like particles assembling themselves step by step, revealing how a surprisingly simple process of trial and error produces complex structures with remarkable precision. The discovery uncovers a crucial molecular turning point that speeds up assembly and could lead to new ways to disrupt viruses and develop vaccines. Oxford scientists discover how viruses build themselves without a blueprint.

Protein building blocks can repeatedly join and leave the growing particle. When they form a closed face, multiple connections lock the building blocks into place, providing stable intermediate structures from which the particle can continue to assemble. Structures rendered from PDB ID 7B3Y using ChimeraX software.

The illustration was later edited using Claude (Anthropic). The findings, published in Nature, offer a detailed look at a process that scientists have struggled to observe directly for decades. Understanding how viruses construct their protective protein shells, and how that construction might be interrupted, could lead to new antiviral drugs, improved vaccines, and other medical treatments.