A new age of domestication. Benign Viruses Shine on the Silicon Assembly Line:

"We have forced organisms to grow some of the technologically interesting materials that nature hasn't had the opportunity yet to work with," said Dr. Belcher, an associate professor of materials science.

Now she and her team report in the journal Science that they have selectively altered the DNA in their viruses to generate a variety of tiny wires made of magnetic and semiconducting materials.

Today we harvest milk from cows. Tomorrow, circuit components from virii.