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Over the past decade or so there has been a growing interest in the use of viruses as templates, scaffolds, and synthons for exploitation in (bio) nanotechnology in areas as diverse as materials science, engineering, electronics, photonics, magnetic storage, catalysis, and biomedicine.[1–10] Some spherical plant virus particles (or, more correctly, those with icosahedral symmetry) are able to encapsulate nanoparticles within the size-and shape-constrained viral capsid. For example, host–guest encapsulation of tungstate, vanadate,[11, 12] titania,[13] and Prussian blue nanoparticles [14] has been previously demonstrated within the spherical particles of Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus. This was facilitated, in part, by the ease with which nucleic acid-free empty particles can be obtained by in vitro assembly. Until now, Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) has not been used to encapsulate materials as it has been very difficult to obtain empty (RNA free) particles as these comprise only a small fraction (5–10%) of particles produced during an infection. There have been some attempts to inactivate or eliminate the viral RNAs contained in the majority of particles either by irradiation with ultraviolet light [15, 16] or chemically.[17, 18] However, these processes risk altering the structural properties of the particles and generally do not actually remove the RNA from the particles, merely rendering them noninfectious. Here we exploit the recent discovery that it is possible to produce large quantities of CPMV empty viruslike particles (eVLPs) in plants without the need for infection.[19] The ability to produce such eVLPs greatly extends the range of applications of CPMV …