Friday, January 7, 2011

Tree-like giant is largest molecule ever made - physics-math - 07 January 2011 - New Scientist

Tree-like giant is largest molecule ever made: With a diameter of 10 nanometres and a mass equal to 200 million hydrogen atoms, this huge molecule festooned with tree-like appendages, paves the way to sophisticated structures capable of storing drugs within their folds, or bonding to a wide variety of different substances.

Complex macromolecules abound in nature and PG5 is about the same size as tobacco mosaic virus. But making such large molecules in the lab is tough, as they tend to fall apart while they are being made.

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