2.5 from Smart Matter to Molecular Machines

summary

Biological molecular machines can adapt their conformations and function by consuming energy in their environment.
Just like living systems, artificial materials can be designed to convert external energy into mechanical motion.
One ubiquitous source of energy is the evaporation of water. Selecting peptides that change their conformation in response to the evaporation of water is an early application of environment-driven behavior of materials.
Bio-inspired responsive technologies can have targeted biomedical applications with novel and complex functions. One example is cancer treatment: a substance that responds to the presence of enzymes that are only produced by cancer cells could be used for targeted drug delivery.