Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Three Scientists for Design, Synthesis of Molecular Machines WSJ
“STOCKHOLM—Three European scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for finding ways to energize and steer molecules, . . . The three laureates discovered how to use molecules as components of tiny machines that can be controlled to perform specific tasks.” . . . Such tiny machines, including minuscule motors, blades and switches, can be powered by changes in light, temperature or acidity. “This award is all about the world’s smallest machines,” said Göran K. Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences”
“.. . . The development of molecular machines is still in an early stage, comparable, the academy said, to that of the electric motor in the early 19th century, when “scientists displayed various spinning cranks and wheels, unaware that they would lead to electric trains, washing machines, fans and food processors.” These early inventions powered an industrial revolution. Scientists are now hoping for the same at the nano scale. . . . antibiotics could be switched on and off remotely by exposing it to light, potentially allowing the medicine to only target one particular body part. . . . Molecular machinists could also build injectable “microrobots” that could hunt down tumors or ferry drugs to specific tissues, Dr. Feringa said. Scientists have already devised early synthetic versions of some such miniature gadgets. For instance, in 2010, researchers at New York University built tiny DNA walkers capable of shuttling gold particles along a microscopic track. In 2013, chemists at the University of Manchester in the U.K. built a nanorobot capable of stringing together amino acids, mimicking the function of ribosomes, the cellular machines that build proteins. . . .In 1983, Dr. Sauvage took the first step toward building microscopic gadgets when he linked together two ring-shaped molecules that could move relative to each other to form a chain, known as a catenane. . . . In 1991 Dr. Stoddart,. . .demonstrated a molecular ring that could move along a thin molecular axle. These simple dumbbell-shaped devices, known as rotaxanes, have become workhorses of the molecular-machines field.. . .”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 “They developed the world’s smallest machines”
“3 Makers of World’s Smallest Machines Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry” NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/science/nobel-prize-chemistry.html?_r=0
“Richard Feynman . . .gave a seminal lecture in 1959, toward the end of his life, on design and engineering at the molecular scale.” (See “There’s plenty of room at the bottom”) and “Tiny Machines”.
Compare what has been discovered on biomolecular machines. With awards for the design of molecular machines, compare the more complex machines we see in a living cell with the consequences of chaos. Surely that must bring some insights!