Let Assemblies Bloom

摘要

In nature, complexity and order can often result from self-assembly - the spontaneous and reversible aggregation of the components of a disordered system into an ordered one. But so far, researchers have mainly studied systems of one or two components, whereas nature can mix many more - as is the case, for example, with the assembly of ribosomes, the protein-synthesizing organelles in cells. On page 999 of this issue, Erb et al. show that man-made multi-component systems can assemble under the action of a magnetic field(R. M. Erb et al. Nature 457,999-1002;2009).rnSelf-assembly processes are usually driven by intermolecular forces, including hydrophobicity and the formation of hydrogen bonds, as opposed to the more-stable covalent forces. But external effects such as electrical and magnetic forces can also lend a hand. The componentsrnof such a system can range from metallic nanoparticles to biopolymers and macroscopic objects.