Wiktionary
n. The manufacturing of products with a degree of precision defined by individual molecules or atoms
Wikipedia
Molecular engineering is an emerging field of study concerned with the design and testing of molecular properties, behavior and interactions in order to assemble better materials, systems, and processes for specific functions. This approach, in which observable properties of a macroscopic system are influenced by direct alteration of a molecular structure, falls into the broader category of “bottom-up” design.
Molecular engineering is highly interdisciplinary by nature, encompassing aspects of chemical engineering, materials science, bioengineering, electrical engineering, physics, mechanical engineering, and chemistry. There is also considerable overlap with nanotechnology, in that both are concerned with the behavior of materials on the scale of nanometers or smaller. Given the highly fundamental nature of molecular interactions, there are a plethora of potential application areas, limited perhaps only by one’s imagination and the laws of physics. However, some of the early successes of molecular engineering have come in the fields of immunotherapy, synthetic biology, and printable electronics (see molecular engineering applications).
Molecular engineering is a dynamic and evolving field with complex target problems; breakthroughs require sophisticated and creative engineers who are conversant across disciplines. A rational engineering methodology that is based on molecular principles is in contrast to the widespread trial-and-error approaches common throughout engineering disciplines. Rather than relying on well-described but poorly-understood empirical correlations between the makeup of a system and its properties, a molecular design approach seeks to manipulate system properties directly using an understanding of their chemical and physical origins. This often gives rise to fundamentally new materials and systems, which are required to address outstanding needs in numerous fields, from energy to healthcare to electronics. Additionally, with the increased sophistication of technology, trial-and-error approaches are often costly and difficult, as it may be difficult to account for all relevant dependencies among variables in a complex system. Molecular engineering efforts may include computational tools, experimental methods, or a combination of both.
Usage examples of "molecular engineering".
Our prototypes invested it with special ceremonies: visiting the molecular engineering facility as a group rather than separately, swearing oaths of friendship, and conferring their ‘.
The microbe's trigger mechanism additionally required the concurrent and coordinated applications of protein and molecular engineering processes.
The day would come, though, once they solved the unknowns behind sub-molecular engineering.
They used the latest alloys and polymers-although with all the changes in molecular engineering since then, the original stuff they put in me would seem positively antique now.
When they were of age, if the ship wanted to introduce them to molecular engineering, that could certainly be done.
Eric Drexler and I seemed to be having similar ideas at about the same time-Drexler published his first article on molecular engineering in 1981-but his work was not widely known at the time, and was unknown to me.
It can hinge in or outward, slide vertically or laterally, unscrew clockwise or anticlockwise or, if the builders are sufficiently advanced in the field of molecular engineering, an opening could be dilated in an area of solid metal.