Press Clips from 2026

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January 28, 2026

Plant Viruses: The Unsung Heroes That Deliver Drugs and Destroy Tumors

Before picking up a pipette, Nicole Steinmetz, today a biomedical engineer at the University of California San Diego, picked up a pair of skates gifted by her grandmother. Her affinity for skating caught the attention of coaches, and in her early teens, she was drafted for the German National Team in Artistic Roller Figure Skating. But skating was far from her only love. She aspired to be a scientist. Now, Steinmetz engineers plant virus nanoparticles into versatile drug-delivery platforms. This work expanded into cancer vaccines and immunotherapy. Full Story