Created nano shears to work with molecules

Japanese scientists from the University of Tokyo have created microscopic scissors just three nanometers long, designed to work with molecules.

The research, according to LiveScience, was conducted under the guidance of Takuzo Aida, and their results were presented during the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago.

Like real scissors, the nanotool developed in Japan consists of blades, handles and a central rod. Blades are rings of carbon and hydrogen, known as phenyl groups. The role of the central core, around which the blades rotate, is played by the molecule of chiral ferrocene. This molecule consists of an iron atom and two flat carbon rings freely rotating around it. Finally, the so-called phenylene groups, linked to each other by azobenzene molecule that reacts to light, were used as handles.

Microscopic scissors work as follows. When a nano-instrument is irradiated with ultraviolet light, the azobenzene molecule shrinks, causing the handles and blades to shift. In order to open the scissors, the azobenzene molecule must be exposed to visible light.
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It is assumed that in the future the nanoscissors will be used in the manipulation of genes, proteins and other molecules. However, while the tool created by Japanese scientists is not able to cut molecules and can only perform the functions of tweezers. By the way, the researchers are already working on a larger version of scissors, tweezers, which could be controlled remotely.