On Sept. 25, 2023, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley reported that engineered viruses also can generate electricity when exposed to heat, a finding that may pave the way for next-generation biosensors and diagnostic tools.

As reported in the journal Advanced Materials, researchers discovered for the first time “heat-induced electrical potential generation on a virus,” a phenomenon known as pyroelectricity. This work may shed light on how biomaterials — cells, tissues and proteins — generate electricity at a molecular level as well as lead to the development of biomaterials with novel medical, pharmaceutical, environmental and energy applications.