Inspired by genetics, chemistry finally takes hold of its own code
Nature proves every day that it is both complex and efficient, and even that its complexity contributes to its efficiency. Organic chemists鈥攃hemists who work on carbon-based molecules鈥攁re envious of it; their conventional tools confine them to simpler achievements. Thanks to the work of Professor Stefan Matile鈥檚 team from the AV短视频 (UNIGE), these limitations could become a thing of the past. His publication in the Nature Chemistry journal indeed offers a new kind of code to chemists, allowing them to access new levels of complexity.
Stefan Matile opts for sincerity. For him, if organic chemistry is often fond of simplifying its functional systems, it is because it is mostly impossible for it to construct and manage molecular architectures as complex as those produced with tremendous efficiency in nature. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fact鈥�, says the UNIGE professor and NCCR Chemical Biology member, 鈥渢hat we are far from being able to match the genius of nature.鈥�
Where the complexity arises
The specialist attributes the genetic code to this genius of nature. 鈥淚t is rather simple because it is based on four foundations鈥攁denine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine (A, C, G, and T). The double helix structure of DNA is also quite simple. The complexity arises mainly from the cell鈥檚 transfer of this information from one stage to the next.鈥�
Stefan Matile has long believed that a code also exists in organic chemistry and must be discovered, which he is convinced he has achieved with the assistance of his colleague, Edvinas Orentas.
鈥淚 must admit that this work is extremely complicated, fundamental, and theoretical,鈥� the professor continues. 鈥淏ut I also think it鈥檚 quite revolutionary, especially if we are able to implement it on a practical level.鈥�
Laying the foundation
In fact, thanks to him, organic chemists may be able to stop laboriously constructing their functional systems, atom by atom, link by link. The code would allow them to write two-dimensional maps, a relatively simple and manageable challenge. The complexity of three-dimensional systems would then be created by transcribing this scheduled information; a transcription that, with supporting proof, has a reliability of 97%, so close to perfection. A powerful way to approach the complexity of nature.
From now on, Stefan Matile鈥檚 group will try to put this code into practice to produce surface materials like the ones used to make organic solar cells, which mimic the processes at work during photosynthesis. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 yet know if it will work exactly as we expect, but the adventure promises to be exciting.鈥�
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28 Jul 2015