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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Molecules that see the light embark on an epic trip

Illumination releases microscopic crawlers to follow a long, fibrous path.
GIF of the irradiation experiment

Light unleashes ‘traveller’ molecules (shown here moving faster than actual speed) to scoot along track-like fibres. Credit: M. Samperi et al./Nature Chem.

As a violet-blue light washes over a newly created gel, the glow prompts ‘traveller’ molecules embedded within to begin their march — a journey that could lead to the development of new molecular-scale machines1.

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Nature 598, 388 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02800-3

References

  1. Samperi, M. et al. Nature Chem. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00791-2 (2021).

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