The bottom-up construction of molecular computers has come one step nearer with the development of a plug-and-socket molecular system that is an analog of a macroscopic electrical extension cord, says Chemical & Engineering News.

The nano extension cord, developed by Vincenzo Balzani of the University of Bologna and J. Fraser Stoddart of UCLA, is switched on and off by connecting and disconnecting the molecular components.

According to Oxford University chemistry professor Harry L. Anderson, "One day, photoinduced electron transfer might be used in molecular-scale information-processing devices."

Balzani and Stoddart's work, he says, "represents an interesting step in this direction by demonstrating how simple components can be designed so that they spontaneously self-assemble into complex functional architectures. In the future, it should be possible to construct a system like this one in which the 'extension cord' really behaves as a molecular wire, mediating long-range electron transport."