Chapter 4a Summary

The first section of Chapter 4 addresses the forces and stability of molecules that we do not necessarily notice on a macroscale level. The major difference is simply the amount of energy involved. For bionanotechnology to work, it must comply with the laws of the forces of attraction between molecules and atoms. This information, most of which has already been researched thoroughly by biologists, chemists, and physicists, is essential to properly designing molecular machines for functionality. One factor that changes the way molecular machines work is their environment; water is the necessary solution that almost all molecular machines absolutely must exist in to function. In addition, there is a hierarchical structure to the strategies of designing and assembling molecular machines: 1) sequential covalent syntheses - where each atom is placed individually until the whole is completed; 2) covalent polymerization; 3) self-organizing synthesis; 4) self assembly. This hierarchy also aligns itself in an obvious continuum of completely dependent upon human direction to independent construction, which would become very valuable in mass producing molecular machines.