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Peptoid technology for molecular nanosystems — My review is now online

November 7, 2011

My invited review “Peptoids at the 7th Summit: Toward Macromolecular Systems Engineering” [pdf] kicks off the peptoid special issue of Biopolymers: Peptide Science.
Astoundingly, all the papers are open access.
Here’s the abstract:

Peptoids at the 7th Summit: Toward Macromolecular Systems Engineering
Methods for facile synthesis of extraordinarily diverse peptide-like oligomers have placed peptoids at the center of [...]

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My next book: Radical Abundance, 2013

July 21, 2011

I’m now working on a new book, Radical Abundance, scheduled for publication in 2013 by PublicAffairs. The book has a wide scope in both its content and intended audience, addressing scientists, a general reading audience, and thought leaders in the policy arena.
Radical Abundance will integrate and extend several themes that I’ve touched on in Metamodern, [...]

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An advance in atomically precise
building-block assembly

May 27, 2011

A paper in Science reports a design method that substantially advances the macromolecular technology base for building atomically precise nanosystems.
Background: foldamer engineering
As many readers know, biology shows an effective way build large, intricate, atomically precise systems: Use covalent chemistry to build chains of small building blocks, and design these chains to fold into nanoscale building [...]

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Crystallizing molecular assemblies
that don’t exist

April 26, 2011

Leroy Cronin’s group has pioneered the development of large, atomically precise metal oxide clusters (the polyoxometalates) with an eye to applications in nanotechnology. A recent publication shows why crystal engineering is a natural complement to this work — and to the engineering of self-assembling systems in general.
Here’s an excerpt from the abstract (emphasis added):
Cations in [...]

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The Quantum Information Science
and Technology Roadmap
(for example…)

April 24, 2011

Roadmaps are crucial in developing new technology platforms — in other words, for the coordinated development of complete sets of compatible technologies that, taken together, support system-level technologies at a new level. Whether formal or informal, roadmaps address a fundamental problem of risk and mutual expectations in technology development: the problem of giving all necessary [...]

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Across the blood-brain barrier with exosomes

March 22, 2011

New work with exosomes promises wide-ranging advances in medicine, courtesy of an emerging biomolecular nanotechnology.
As pharmaceutical chemists know, the blood-brain barrier blocks delivery of many molecules that do wonderful things if injected directly into the brain, but injecting the brain isn’t quite as convenient as injecting a vein.
Exosomes are lipid vesicles manufactured by cells for [...]

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Atomic Layer Deposition
for Atomically-Precise Crystal Fabrication (2)

February 16, 2011

The American Vacuum Society writes to announce ALD 2011,
the 11th International Conference on Atomic Layer Deposition:
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a fast-moving frontier, profoundly impacting diverse applications and gaining momentum for industrialization and manufacturing, while leaving plenty of room for new science and innovation….
ALD is receiving attention for its potential applications from advanced electronics, [...]

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New project launched:
Atomic Scale and Single Molecule
Logic Gate Technologies

November 25, 2010

The Atomic Scale and Single Molecule Logic Gate Technologies project is a Singapore/EU effort that aims to build atomically precise digital devices and circuits by direct surface manipulation at cryogenic temperatures.
According to the project leader, Prof Christian Joachim, “The UHV interconnection machine at IMRE [in Singapore] is the only one in the entire project that [...]

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The 2010 Nobel Prize
for Graphene Nanotechnology

October 5, 2010

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov have just won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics “for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene”, and their work has opened a broad frontier in nanotechnology.
Graphene is best known for its remarkable electronic properties, which make it both a wonderland for physicists and a contender for future transistors with [...]

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Evolutionary refinement of engineered molecules

October 5, 2010

Blind variation and focused selection have made the biosphere, and they’re being used in the lab to make functional biomolecular components. The laboratory methods often go under the names of “directed evolution” and (in single-round versions) “high-throughput screening”, and they hold promise as partners for rational design in macromolecular systems engineering.
As background, here are [...]

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The best introduction to DNA nanotechnology

August 28, 2010

For a good overview of structural DNA nanotechnology and DNA origami (a molecular wonder of the modern world), see this presentation from a course in the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. The subject calls for a strong visual presentation, and the slides deliver this together with a good description of DNA engineering [...]

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The 7th Peptoid Summit:
Progress in peptoid toolkit development

August 13, 2010

The 7th Peptoid Summit highlighted progress in design technology for one of the most promising toolkits in modular molecular systems engineering.
I’ve outlined the submonomer method for peptoid synthesis as a powerful and convenient way to assemble diverse molecular components, and the recent development of crystalline peptoid nanosheets as a platform for extended atomically-precise structures. The [...]

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