Researchers in Illinois have devised a new type of microscopic wire that they say will accelerate the development of sensors, circuit components, and other devices made from single molecules. What make the wire so versatile are gaps as small as 2.5 nanometers, the diameter of a DNA strand. The broken wire is held together by a backing of silica or another material, a team at Northwestern University in Evanston reports in the July 1 Science.