EVERY do-it-yourself enthusiast will know that putting together a wardrobe or dressing table can be a task to test the most patient and experienced of hands.

But when it comes to creating complicated "super molecules" that are smaller than the eye can see, we would all have our work cut out.

That's why boffins at the University of York have revealed the secrets of "self-assembly molecules" - the scientific equivalent of flat pack furniture.

They have created models made from magnetic ping-pong balls that show off their cutting-edge scientific advances in a user-friendly way.

The giant models will be shown to an anticipated 4,500 members of the public at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, in London next month.

Dr Victor Chechik, from the university's Chemistry Department, said: "We are trying to engage the public by making our exhibit as interactive as possible.

"Although chemistry is usually very difficult to present because it involves chemical language which can scare people off, the science being presented here will be explained in a very visual fashion.

"We are using a visual approach to make accurate science more accessible. It is high-level research being demonstrated in a very simple way."

The York chemists will also investigate DNA samples and use slime to demonstrate how branched molecules are employed to make gels.

It will focus on how scientists prepare large molecules that are simply too big to be assembled by conventional chemical synthesis. Instead they use self-assembly - instructing small molecules to assemble spontaneously into large functional structures.

The Marvel of Supermolecules features at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition at the Royal Society from July 4 to 7.

It is open to the public as well as organised visits by secondary schools from across the country. It is expected to attract 4,500 visitors.

Updated: 10:07 Wednesday, June 29, 2005