One of the main goals of his research is to chemically synthesize ‘molecular cages’, e.g., host molecules with a three-dimensional cavity, in order to capture specific target ‘guest molecules’. “We are designing host molecules using oligo(salen)–metal structures,” explains Akine. “We chemically design these host compounds to have cap functions enabling the control of guest targets to be either confined inside the host or be released. This ability to switch the cap on or off is important for many applications in the WPI-NanoLSI project including the nanoendoscopy.”