Made-to-order nanocages open possibilities of shipping cargo into living cells, building small chemical reactors

Researchers have designed and produced a self-assembling protein shell shaped like an icosahedron — similar to those that encapsulate viruses. The achievement may open new avenues for engineering cargo-containing nano-cages to package and deliver drugs and vaccines directly into cells, or building small reactors to catalyze biochemical reactions. The shell is also amenable to genetic fusion, such as the addition of fluorescent proteins.