The latest electron microscopes can create three-dimensional images of the smallest structures, turning an agricultural pest into a work of art. This is the cowpea mosaic virus, scourge of legume farmers everywhere, vitrified and subjected to a single particle reconstruction procedure by FEI Corp. You can easily make out the blue outer protein shell and the yellow viral genomic material inside. Maybe soon we’ll be able to hack viruses as easily as we can image them. Image by FEI Corp. [FEI]
