Molecular Machines

Abstract

The human body is a living, breathing example of the power of nanotechnology. Almost everything happens at the atomic level. Individual molecules are captured and sorted, and individual atoms in these molecules are shuffled from place to place, building entirely new molecules. Individual photons of light are captured and used to direct the motion of individual electrons through electrical circuits. Molecules are packaged and transported expertly over distances of a few nanometers. Tiny molecular machines, such as the one in Fig. 2.1, orchestrate all of these nanoscale processes of life. Like the machines of our modern world, these machines are built to perform specific tasks efficiently and accurately. These tasks, however, are molecule-sized tasks and the molecular machines in cells have been perfected to operate at the level of atoms.