The Science of Small

December 12, 2007

C. Jeffrey Brinker, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of New Mexico, is turning out some of the most intricate nanomaterials the field has seen. Many of these materials build themselves. One is a protective sheath that keeps cells alive for months outside a host body, nourished by a layer of fat. Another has perfectly arrayed pores 3 nanometers across, a mesh so fine it is used to filter individual amino acids in the DNA sequencing process. (Forbes)