Category:Biomimetic

From Wise Nano

Biomimetic nanostructures and nanomachinery use molecules and designs drawn from biology. For example, one might use a bacterial flagellar motor in an artificial lipid bilayer to make something rotate.

Structures made with biochemistry are largely self-assembled. The shape they take is basically the lowest-energy shape--the one that likes to stick together best. This can be thought of as "static cling." Cellular structures are not very stiff. This allows moving parts to slide past each other without sticking. It's more precise to say they don't actually slide, they partially disassemble and reform in the new configuration. This disassembly and reassembly is happening all the time due to thermal noise (Brownian motion), and a very slight force can make the new configuration constitute a net movement.

By contrast, read about robotic nanomachinery.

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