Nicholas Winograd of Penn State thought so, and he was right. Although it is not possible to use these measurements to compute backward to determine the original state of the surface, one can compare the measurements to the results calculated from various theoretical models and then reject the models that give the wrong answers. In combination with MEM, it may become an efficient optical probe for doing spectroscopic studies on local regions within molecules. SIMS should help to elucidate the structure of surfaces, making possible the rational design of moving parts for nanomachinery. They are developing methods for measuring the force exerted on a microtubule by a single kinesin motor, and the amount by which the motor moves along a microtubule during each stroke.
Bacteria swim by using rotary motors to turn helical filaments extending from their surfaces.
Flagellin molecules, it appears, form a flagellum by stacking in a helical pattern with approximately 11 subunits per two turns of the helix. The researchers plan to investigate the mechanisms by which bacterial flagella change shape in response to chemical and physical changes such as pH, ionic strength, or the direction of motor rotation. Since flagella have evolved as bacterial propellors, they will likely not have all the right characteristics for doing any of these things. But recent work with enzymes has shown that it can be surprisingly easy to re-engineer existing proteins, radically improving them for given tasks. The road to nanometer-sized diodes appears to be open.