Page 123 - Visions of the Future Chemistry and Life Science

112 A. R. HEMSLEY AND P. C. GRIFFITHS

iridescent effects or to produce specific finishes upon drying. The use of
natural water-based colloidal systems could eliminate the need for poten-
tially harmful or irritating volatile components. Were consistent surface
patterns to be of a highly repetitive nature over relatively large scales, they
may potentially be of use in the production of computer chip technology,
providing a template for microcircuitry. Again, it might be feasible to
extract the required component chemicals from genetically engineered
plants, much as we can extract clove oil, ephedrine or opium now.
The use of colloidal chemistry in the production of synthetic organic
microarchitecture based on that produced by living systems is in its
infancy. Its development will naturally run parallel to the greater utilisa-
tion of genetic manipulation of organisms both as whole organisms and as
organismal components in test tubes. We perceive a time, within the new
millennium, in which we are able to control Nature, not just through
genes, but by making use of the inherent properties of biological construc-
tion materials and processes. These substances and mechanisms will be,
by their very nature, ‘friendly’ to both humans and the environment as a
whole.

6.5 Further reading
Cohen, J. 1995 Who do we blame for what we are. In How things are (eds. J.
Brockman & K. Matson), pp. 51–60. London: Weidenfield and Nicholson.
Hemsley A. R. & Griffiths, P. C. 2000. Architecture in the microcosm:
biocolloids, self-assembly and pattern formation. Phil. Trans. R. Soc.
Lond. A. 358, 547–564.
Kauffman, S. A. 1993 The origins of order. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mann, S. & Ozin, G. A. 1996 Synthesis of inorganic materials with complex
form. Nature 382, 313–318.
Shaw, D. J. 1980 Introduction to colloid and surface chemistry, 3rd edn.
London: Butterworths.
Thompson, D. W. 1961 On growth and form (abridged edition, ed. J. T.
Bonner). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.