Mixed path

Very crude conceptual example of part of an MMCN. Red may represent proteins, Blue dots may represent binding sites/active sites. Dark grey blocks and grid of black may represent bigger structures (maybe structural DNA nanotechnology). Yellow way represent a gold contact on a chip for electrostatic interaction. White outline: A hinge. ... Moe details on page: Modular molecular composite nanosystem.

Conceptual sketch illustrating the idea of an "early diamondoid nanosystem pixel" or "early replicative pixel" for short. More details on page: Early diamondoid nanosystem pixel (direct path).

This "mixed path" is about a scenario wherein the incremental path and the direct path eventually at some point intermingle
thereby "cross-pollinating" which then helps along accelerating on the pathway to advanced productive nanosystems.

Mixed technology along the pathway, not necessarily mixed in the target technology

Note that taking this pathway does not mean that all far term target systems will be hybrid.
Taking this pathway rather means that there will be more options for bio-compatible operation in advanced systems (nanomedicine).
High performance systems (like e.g. in rocket engines or so) will still need to avoid all thermally fragile components.
Meaning likely no foldamers but only crystolecules. See: Consistent design for external limiting factors

Hard in soft – crystolecules in foldamer systems

• Integration of solution phase mechanosynthesis in foldamer systems
• Integration of crystolecules (possibly produced in vacuum) into solution phase systems

Combining strengths & compensating for weaknesses

This option may be especially likely as it
combines the different pathway approaches in a way that
combines their strengths and compensates for their weaknesses.

Combining strengths:
– Incremental paths strength at scaling to larger system complexities (incremental).
– Direct paths strength at introduction of total positional control towards positional atomic precision.

Compensating for weaknesses:
– Incremental paths challenge at introduction of total positional control towards positional atomic precision
– Direct paths challenge at scaling to larger system complexities (direct).

Soft in hard – foldamers in crystolecule systems

• Integration of self assembled foldamer things into crystolecular systems.

Delineation to synthetic biology

It is not impossible but it seems rather unlikely that
synthetic biology can provide much targeted R&D towards advanced gemstone based APM.
The reason:

Synthetic biology, when interpreted as what it says in its name,
has as far term target "mimicking what biology does in synthetic ways"
and that would be artificial vesicular systems.
Vesicular means by soft membrane-bound compartments in cells
that have complex chemical intercommunication
that makes heavy use of diffusion transport.

This is a almost diametrically opposed far term target to
APM where the goal is to go to stiffer less diffusion dependent systems ASAP.
As is mentioned on the Main page of this wiki.

Maybe there is a way to get some weird crystal focused synthetic biology
that aims at usage of such vesicular diffusion systems for the assembly of
larger scale topologically atomically precise foldamer assemblies
with proper termination control).
But the author is not aware of such a field or dedicated efforts as of 2026.

Related

• MMCNs: Modular molecular composite nanosystem
• Early diamondoid nanosystem pixel (direct path)
• Mechanosynelf assembly assemblinting system

---

• Direct path
• Incremental path
• Pathways

---

• Tether assisted assembly

---

• Spiroligomers as early bridge between pathways (Spiroligomers)

---

• Inter technology binding