Baculoviruses are arthropod‐specific, enveloped viruses with circular, supercoiled double‐ stranded DNA genomes [1]. They infect Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Hymenoptera (sawflies) and Diptera (mosquitoes) [2]. While many viruses are studied because of their damaging effects, the study of baculoviruses was stimulated by their potential utility to control insect pests [3]. Later, the uti...

50 years since the double helix: Genetic Engineering is crude and old-fashioned 50 years ago the structure of DNA was determined 1 and hailed as the " secret of life ". The determination of the structure of DNA made it seem as if the complete understanding of living organisms was possible, even though fundamental questions regarding DNA function were unanswered, and remain so today. Later, in t...

Optical methods for manipulation of cellular function have enabled deconstruction of genetic and neural circuits in vitro and in vivo. Plasmonic gold nanomaterials provide an alternative platform for external optical manipulation of genetic circuits. The tunable absorption of gold nanoparticles in the infrared spectral region and straightforward surface functionalization has led to applications...