The Physics of How Viruses Make New Viruses

Abstract:   Viruses have enormously rich and varied life cycles.   Bacterial
viruses
have  a hallowed position in the development of modern biology and recently
have become the subject of intensive physical investigation.  Using
single-molecule
techniques, it has become possible to examine viruses both while they package
and eject their DNA.  One of the intriguing aspects of these processes is that
they bring large forces (greater than 50 pN) into play.   My talk will give a
general
introduction to viruses and their life cycles and will then focus on simple
physical
arguments about the forces that attend viral DNA packaging and ejection,
predictions about the ejection process and single-molecule measurements of
ejection itself.