What is Nanotechnology?

While many definitions for nanotechnology exist, the NNI calls it "nanotechnology" only if it involves all of the following:

1. Research and technology development at the atomic, molecular or macromolecular levels, in the length scale of approximately 1 - 100 nanometer range.

2. Creating and using structures, devices and systems that have novel properties and functions because of their small and/or intermediate size.

3. Ability to control or manipulate on the atomic scale.
Collage of biological structures on the nanoscale.

Collage of biological structures on the nanoscale.

Medical researchers work at the micro- and nano-scales to develop new drug delivery methods, therapeutics and pharmaceuticals. For instance, DNA, our genetic material, is in the 2.5 nanometer range, while red blood cells are approximately 2.5 micrometers.

See The Scale of Things for a comparative view of the sizes of commonly known items and nanoscale particles.

Read more about nanoscale research in medicine from the National Institutes of Health.