Hollow structures that self-assemble in solution could one day be used to
ferry drugs and DNA into patients, say scientists at the French Atomic Energy
Commission in Saclay. They dissolved myristic acid and cetyltrimethylammonium
hydroxide in water at 60 °C. When a solution containing slightly more
myristate ions than cetyltrimethylammonium ions is cooled, they reassemble to
form micrometre-diameter, hollow balls with 20 faces and pores at each vertex
(Nature, vol 411, p 572).
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