| virus assembly | The assembly of viral capsid proteins and nucleic acid to form a viral particle (virion). (12 Dec 1998) |
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| self assembly | <biology> The property of forming structures from sub units (protomers) without any external source of information about the structure to be formed such as priming structure or template. (18 Nov 1997) |
| zero energy thermonuclear assembly | <radiobiology> A British fusion device in which scientists observed fusion neutrons in 1958. They were erroneously considered to be thermonuclear (coming from particles with a Maxwellian velocity distribution) and were a cause for the initial optimism that fusion energy would be easy. They were actually due to electromagnetic acceleration during a plasma instability, an effect which cannot be scaled up to produce useful energy. (09 Oct 1997) |