Virology lecture #4: Structure of viruses

viruses are not exactly like houses, they are like …(make a poll)
why angstroem, when we have nanometers
why is there no structure inside the virus to stabilize the shell ? (walls,rooms in houses)
why only icosahedrons, are dodecahedrons,… impossible in principle or were they once
eliminated in the great intervirotic war
how are these t=1,2,…facet-icosahedrons called in math ? I remember webpages where you can
rotate all these shapes with the mouse , or virus-models from plastic or videos rotating them
do viruses attach to each other to form polyicosahedra
need an organized list of all known viruses (how many in total) with their properties and pictures
when you say:”see here” , there is no pointer in the video
hyperlinks to click while you talk would be nice
http://viperdb.scripps.edu

Dr. Racaniello,

Wonderful lecture !

Few questions,
So viral envelope is composed of glycoproteins, some of which are essential in attachment and entry. What else is envelope made of ? Lipid bilayer ..? and how similar is this lipid bilayer to mammalian cells or bacterial cell bilayer ?
Also I read somewhere or may be in one of the TWiV's that envelope viruses cannot survive without the envelope. I see many antiviral compounds targeting the viral glycoprotein or corresponding cell receptor. But is there some significant work done of disrupting the viral envelope ?

Thank you,
Pritesh