Self-assembly as a research area investigates the spontaneous organization of components into ordered structures driven by local interactions and thermodynamic or kinetic principles, without direct external manipulation of each element. It encompasses molecular, nanoscale, and mesoscale systems where noncovalent forces (e.g., van der Waals, electrostatic, hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding) or specific binding interactions encode structural information. Research focuses on understanding design rules, energy landscapes, and defect formation, as well as developing programmable systems (e.g., DNA origami, block copolymers, colloidal crystals) for applications in materials science, nanotechnology, and biotechnology, often linking equilibrium self-assembly with nonequilibrium and hierarchical assembly processes.
Acting as armor, a scaffold and a communication platform in one, our cells' plasma membrane lies at the heart of many crucial cellular processes. Traditionally, it has been thought to function through interactions among its ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 27, 2026
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A research team from Tel Aviv University and the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF), led by Ayala Lampel and Carsten Werner, has developed a peptide-glycosaminoglycan hydrogel system that creates a programmable ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 26, 2026
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7
Biomolecular nanomachines, such as enzymes and molecular motors, are the workhorses behind the synthesis and organization of complex materials in life. Powered by chemical energy, they build, transport and organize biomolecules, ...
Bio & Medicine
Aug 22, 2026
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Inside every cell, thousands of proteins must reach the right place at the right time. Helping coordinate this complex logistics network are centriolar satellites—tiny, membraneless organelles that play important roles in ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 20, 2026
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A new Northwestern Medicine study has uncovered key molecular design principles that could help supramolecular therapeutics cross the blood-brain barrier, a major challenge for this novel approach to treating neurological ...
Bio & Medicine
Aug 20, 2026
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It's one of the origins-of-life chicken-or-egg problems: How could RNA have helped give rise to the first cells before there were cells to contain it?
Molecular & Computational biology
Aug 20, 2026
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98
Self-assembling, anthracene-based supramolecular nanofibers can enable excitons to migrate hundreds of nanometers, according to a new experimental finding by researchers at Science Tokyo. Coupling these nanofibers with a ...
Nanophysics
Aug 19, 2026
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Basic biology courses teach that cells contain organelles—such as the nucleus, mitochondria and Golgi apparatus—set apart by lipid membranes to get things done. Recent cell biology research has revealed another organizational ...
Soft Matter
Aug 14, 2026
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65
A new pathway has opened for controlling the rotation direction of light simply by changing how molecules are arranged, without having to synthesize complex new materials. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 14, 2026
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69
Scientists often describe life as a series of chemical reactions. Pallav Kosuri, Ph.D., describes life as movement. Chemical reactions are how you drive the movement of atoms, proteins, cells and bodies—without movement, ...
Biotechnology
Aug 14, 2026
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