University of California at Riverside researchers have developed a new type of non-volatile memory device made by attaching individual viruses to quantum dots.

The hybrid material could be used to develop biocompatible electronics and offer a cheap and simple way to make high-density memory chips.

In the future, the hybrids “could act like nanomachines or nanorobots built for treating disease,” Mihri Ozkan of the University of California at Riverside said.