While the possibilities seem as broad as our imaginations, putting microscopic self-assembly to practical use demands a consideration of the timescales needed. To take one example, the rate of assembly will determine the speed of computation that is possible from algorithmic self-assembly of DNA ‘tiles’⁴. And the kinetics of self-assembly and disassembly of actin filaments are central to the speed of cell migration that depends on this mechanism⁵.

How rapidly molecular or nanoscale units can come together in extended arrays — what is in effect a rate of crystallization — depends on various factors intrinsic to the components. But one that is seldom considered is simply the geometry of the subunits. Gartner and Frey have developed a minimal model to investigate that issue, looking at the rates of two-dimensional assembly for tiles with the simplest shapes consistent with close-packed arrays: squares, triangles and hexagons⁶. Such a process might be considered to model the assembly of capsids from triangular proteins⁷ or the formation of bacterial compartments called carboxysomes, which are icosahedral and made up of hexameric or pentameric proteins⁸. And square DNA tiles have been used as pixels that can be assembled in arbitrary, hierarchical ways to make complex images⁹.

虽然可能性似乎与我们的想象一样广泛，但将微观自组装付诸实际应用需要考虑所需的时间尺度。举一个例子，组装速率将决定 DNA“图块” ⁴的算法自组装可能的计算速度。肌动蛋白丝的自组装和分解动力学对于依赖于这种机制的细胞迁移速度至关重要⁵。

分子或纳米级单元在扩展阵列中聚集在一起的速度（实际上是结晶速率）取决于组件固有的各种因素。但很少有人考虑的是亚基的几何形状。 Gartner 和 Frey 开发了一个最小模型来研究该问题，研究具有与密排阵列一致的最简单形状的瓷砖的二维组装率：正方形、三角形和六边形⁶。这样的过程可以被认为是模拟从三角形蛋白质^{7衣壳的组装或称为羧基体的细菌区室的形成，羧基体是二十面体并由六聚体或五聚体蛋白质8}组成。方形 DNA 块已被用作像素，可以以任意、分层的方式组装以制作复杂的图像⁹。