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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology pp 1–2Cite as

Self-Assembly

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Synonyms

Self-organization

Definition

Self-assembly is the process by which preexisting components (separate or distinct parts of a disordered structure) autonomously organize into patterns or structures without external intervention.

Overview

Self-assembly processes are responsible for the generation of much of the order in nature (Philp and Stoddart 1996; Whitesides and Grzybowski 2002). They involve components at different scales, such as molecules, cells, and organisms. The characteristics of the components control how they interact with each other and thus the patterns and structures that emerge. The components must be mobile, being either externally propelled or self-propelled. In many self-assembly systems, the components selectively bind to, or selectively disband from, each other. Such selective binding regulates, for instance, the replication of genetic information in the assembly of the DNA double helix. Self-assembly processes are either static or dynamic. In static...

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References and Further Reading

  • Anderson C, Theraulaz G, Deneubourg J-L (2002) Self-assemblages in insect societies. Insect Soc 49:99–110

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  • Caspar DLD (1966) Design principles in organized biological structures. In: Wolstenholme GEW, O’Connor M (eds) Principles of biomolecular organization. John Wiley & Sons, pp 7–39

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  • Groß R, Dorigo M (2008) Self-assembly at the macroscopic scale. Proc IEEE 96:1490–1508

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  • Philp D, Stoddart JF (1996) Self-assembly in natural and unnatural systems. Angew Chem Int Ed 35:1154–1196

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  • Sendova-Franks AB, Franks NR (1999) Self-assembly, self-organization and division of labour. Philos Trans R Soc B 354:1395–1405

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  • Whitesides GM, Boncheva M (2002) Beyond molecules: self-assembly of mesoscopic and macroscopic components. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99:4769–4774

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Whitesides GM, Grzybowski B (2002) Self-assembly at all scales. Science 295:2418–2421

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Automatic Control & Systems Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK

    Roderich Groß

Authors
  1. Roderich Groß
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roderich Groß .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Cite this entry

Groß, R. (2014). Self-Assembly. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1421-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1421-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Self-Assembly
    Published:
    31 March 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1421-3

  2. Original

    Self-Assembly
    Published:
    19 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1421-2

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