NIST to emphasize biomolecular probes, molectronics

An article on the Small Times website ("U.S. government to push nanopores, molecular electronics in next decade", by D. Brown, 13 December 2001) describes two areas of nanotechnology research that will be emphasized by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in it programs:
The Single Molecule Manipulation and Measurement program, launched in late October, will develop new measurement methods using nanopores to probe the structure, function and dynamics of single biomolecules such as DNA and RNA.
The other effort is a new competence-building project in molecular electronics, which uses molecules to perform the function of electronic components. The science is rapidly developing, but it is largely without standards and measurements. The program project will focus on small-ensemble conduction experiments, test structure assessment, electronic structure characterization and conduction modeling in the near term. It will work with several noted university researchers at Yale University, Penn State University and Rice University, the Hewlett-Packard Research Labs and the Naval Research Laboratory.