Loading video... VIDEO: This is a high-speed Atomic Force Microscope movie of the first steps of viral self-assembly. It shows how a hexamer at the edge of the growing lattice gradually forms from... view more Credit: Wouter Roos, University of Groningen The reproductive cycle of viruses requires self-assembly, maturation of virus particles and, after infection, the release of genetic material into a host cell. New physics-based technologies allow scientists to study the dynamics of this cycle and may eventually lead to new treatments. In his role as physical virologist, Wouter Roos, a physicist at the University of Groningen, together with two longtime colleagues, has written a review article on these new technologies, which was published in