Dendrimers: Dream Molecules Approach Real Applications

摘要

Dendrimers have a dreamy look. These synthetic molecules resemble billowing, three-dimensional snowflakes. And since their discovery in the late 1970s, dendrimers have been the stuff on which dreams are made. Because of their size--up to about 150 angstroms--and rhe way their branching architecture yields a dense surface surrounding a relatively hollow core, scientists have proposed using them as everything from artificial cells to drug carriers. But the materials science community as a whole has been slow to believe in these dreams, partly because den-drimer-makers couldn't prove their creations had the precise, regular structure needed for these applications.