Controlling Movement on the Molecular Scale

Across all scales, mechanical machines generate motion. That motion is characterized by the coherent change in location of one body with respect to another. Across all ages, we have been aware of the usefulness of controlling motion. With engineered motors now replacing horsepower, the modern world is filled with mechanized machines to perform work of all kinds. We also recognize that these devices perform work we either find demanding or that occurs in places in which we cannot act, such as at the nanoscale. It is on this scale, starting from molecules, that we must start to understand, design, and create the next generation of switches and motors to mechanize our world from the bottom up. Nature provides the ultimate inspiration with sliding actin-myosin fibers painting a picture of a mechanized nanotechnology where many small motors impact our macroscopic world.

This GRC acknowledges that the formative steps to switch and motorize molecular matter are being taken now. For this reason, we provide a forum for a multidisciplinary group of researchers to present ideas, experimental realizations, and physical descriptions of artificial switches and motors. Organic chemists create novel molecules performing reversible switching. Theoretical scientists provide the understanding that underpins predictive designs. Soft and hard matter scientists and engineers integrate molecular switches into higher-order architectures, ultimately giving rise to larger devices. Bioengineers and physicists create kinesin-like walkers to test understanding of small motors. Biology is also manipulated when switches are harnessed to control when and where enzymes function. All these possibilities rely on the controlling the movement of matter on molecular length scales. For this reason, the open exchange of ideas and ample time for discussion places the GRC in an ideal position to provide a forum for presenting the frontiers of Artificial Molecular Switches and Motors.