For example, a recent report hints that oscillating supramolecular structures may be possible using such systems, 58 but it should be noted that a non-equilibrium steady state is not a prerequisite for such a function. Furthermore, although it is tempting to look to biology for the potential benefits of such systems, as we note in the context of actin, the behavior of biopolymers in vivo is extremely complicated. Indeed, tubulin assembly, 40 which has some similarities to actin assembly and is also sometimes cited as inspiration for synthetic efforts, is not even as well understood as actin; the most striking features of tubulin behavior (e.g., rescue and catastrophe) are acknowledged by the biophysical community to be "complex and poorly understood". 40c Thus, the final aim of this Perspective is to demystify the technical requirements for achieving out of equilibrium steady states using chemist-friendly language and notation and so inspire chemists from across a range of areas to imagine how they might be used in the longer term. Undoubtedly there will be exciting properties and applications, but perhaps there is need to look beyond biology to identify them. Birds after all do not fly to the moon!