The result is that any coating, such as an antibacterial layer, would be "self-repairing" after small amounts of damage, as the molecular chains just below the damaged layer re-cover the surface.

BBC: Coating heals itself after damage

This is a molecule or molecular combination that has different properties on different parts of its surface: in particular, one part prefers to dissolve in water whereas another part prefers oil.

ECONOMIST: To make engines cleaner, add H2O

To remedy this problem, Kylie Catchpole of the Australian National University in Canberra and Albert Polman of the Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in Amsterdam have been trying to redirect the light that falls onto the surface of a cell in such a way that all colours are efficiently absorbed.

ECONOMIST: Solar energy

The gene produces a molecular sensor on the T cell that is designed to latch on to a telltale protein on the surface of that specific type of cancer.

FORBES: Do-It-Yourselfer