Are We Only a Hop, Skip and Jump Away from Controlled Molecular Motion?

Scientists may very well be a hop, skip and jump away from controlled molecular motion, according to a study in this month's Nature Chemistry.

Controlling how molecules move on surfaces could be the key to more potent drugs that block the attachment of viruses to cells, and will also speed development of new materials for electronics and energy applications. The study is the culmination of a EU-funded collaboration between Tyndall National Institute, UCC researcher Dr. Damien Thompson and colleagues at University of Twente in the Netherlands. Dr. Thompson performed computer simulations that enabled a greater understanding of how two-legged molecules move along patterned surfaces, in a kind of molecular hopscotch.