First image of a molecule

Buck Fuller, long ago, bored most people with his view of the building blocks of nature, from the element to the universe. I am sure you recall his domes.

He wrote that all is structure. He also made up words and confused the hell out me.

Elements are different because of structure. Molecules are whart they are because ot their structure. This is pretty common stuff, now.

Nature has certain structures that is uses, it prefers. Indeed, it must follow.

The nanotube is a bucky structure. The bee hive, too. The structures not only meet the needs of its parts, but form in the strongest way. This is why Bucky domes site quietly during hurricanes.

The structures build on themselves to reveal a larger version. For example:

Non-enveloped Viruses

• Adenovirus

  • References
    • Stewart, P.L., Burnett, R.M. and Fuller, S.D. (1991) Image reconstruction reveals the complex molecular organization of adenovirus. Cell 67:145-167
    • Stewart, P.L., Fuller, S.D. and Burnett, R.M.(1993) Differnce imaging of adenovirus: bridging the resolution gap between X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy EMBO Journal 12:2589-2599
    
    
  • gif images tiff images - higher resolution
    • two-fold view (36650 bytes) --- tiff (81910 bytes)
    • central section (36807 bytes) --- tiff (45238 bytes)
    • five fold detail (92748 bytes) --- tiff (110564 bytes)
  
  

• Bacteriophages P2 and P4

  • References
    • Dokland, T. Lindqvist, B.H. and Fuller, S.D. (1992) Image reconstruction from cryo-electron micrographs reveals the morphopoietic mechanism in the P2-P4 bacteriophage system. EMBO Journal 11:839-846
    
    
  • gif images tiff images - higher resolution
    • P2 three-fold view (32408 bytes) --- tiff (78960 bytes)
    • P2 central section (32314 bytes) --- tiff (41204 bytes)
    • P4 three-fold view (30381 bytes) --- tiff (41164 bytes)
    • P4 central section (24700 bytes) --- tiff (30886 bytes)
    • comparison of P2 and P4 (57495 bytes) --- tiff (76348 bytes)
  
  

• Bacteriophage Lambda

  • References
    • Dokland, T. and Murialdo,H. (1993) Structural Transitions during maturation of bacteriophage lamda capsids Journal of Molecular Biology 223:682-694
    
    
  • gif images tiff images - higher resolution
    • lambda three-fold view (60339 bytes) --- tiff (91192 bytes)
    • lambda D- mutant (lacking protein D) three-fold view (50285 bytes) --- tiff (77398 bytes)
    • lambda prohead three-fold view(34341 bytes) --- tiff (37252 bytes)

The virus is not a little lizard monster, it is a set of structures.

When I visited RPI, a few times, the researchers who were actually creating nanotubes (in a silly little interrocitor) were vaguely aware of the name. He wasn't one of them, nontheless

Now, we can look at...

Molecule Anatomy Imaged for First Time

IBM scientists in Zurich, Switzerland, have taken the first ever close up view of a single molecule using atomic force microscopy. The stunning image shows in detail the anatomy of an organic molecule called a Pentacene, consisting of 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms. Even the atomic bonds at the molecule's periphery can be seen. This breakthrough is being reported in the August 28 issue of Science magazine. More info and video at PhysOrg.com.