Bittner Alexander M, Alonso José María, Górzny Marcin L, Wege Christina
CIC nanoGUNE, Av. Tolosa 76, 20018, San Sebastián, Spain,
Subcell Biochem. 2013;68:667-702. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-6552-8_22.
Nanoscale science refers to the study and manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular scales, including nanometer-sized single objects, while nanotechnology is used for the synthesis, characterization, and for technical applications of structures up to 100 nm size (and more). The broad nature of the fields encompasses disciplines such as solid-state physics, microfabrication, molecular biology, surface science, organic chemistry and also virology. Indeed, viruses and viral particles constitute nanometer-sized ordered architectures, with some of them even able to self-assemble outside cells. They possess remarkable physical, chemical and biological properties, their structure can be tailored by genetic engineering and by chemical means, and their production is commercially viable. As a consequence, viruses are becoming the basis of a new approach to the manufacture of nanoscale materials, made possible only by the development of imaging and manipulation techniques. Such techniques reach the scale of single molecules and nanoparticles. The most important ones are electron microscopy and scanning probe microscopy (both awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics 1986 for the engineers and scientists who developed the respective instruments). With nanotechnology being based more on experimental than on theoretical investigations, it emerges that physical virology can be seen as an intrinsic part of it.
纳米科学是指在原子和分子尺度上对物质进行研究和操控，包括纳米尺寸的单个物体，而纳米技术则用于合成、表征以及尺寸达100纳米及更大尺寸（甚至更大）结构的技术应用。这些领域的广泛性质涵盖了诸如固态物理学、微加工、分子生物学、表面科学、有机化学以及病毒学等学科。实际上，病毒和病毒颗粒构成了纳米尺寸的有序结构，其中一些甚至能够在细胞外自行组装。它们具有显著的物理、化学和生物学特性，其结构可以通过基因工程和化学手段进行定制，并且它们的生产在商业上是可行的。因此，病毒正成为制造纳米材料新方法的基础，这只有通过成像和操控技术的发展才得以实现。此类技术达到了单分子和纳米颗粒的尺度。其中最重要的是电子显微镜和扫描探针显微镜（这两种显微镜的开发者因各自的仪器而荣获1986年诺贝尔物理学奖）。由于纳米技术更多地基于实验而非理论研究，由此可见物理病毒学可被视为其固有组成部分。
