In the near future, nanomachining technology will enable the manufacture of nano-sized devices, such as nanomachines and robots, to carry out fabrication processes and other tasks at the nano level. It is quite conceivable that we will even invent nanomachines that can be injected into our bodies to carry out microsurgical procedures.

Nanomachines are still very much a technology of the future, but steady progress is being made in research. In addition to technologies for manufacturing nano-sized components, such as cogwheels from nanotubes, major fields of research include technologies enabling nanomachines to tap the surrounding environment for the energy they need to function in much the same way as living organisms do, and technologies to program nanomachines to perform functions automatically.

In fact, efforts are under way to find more answers by studying the mechanisms involved in the natural fabrication and functioning of "bionanomachines," such as flagellar motors.

If this research continues to advance, nanomanufacturing should become much easier, and nanotechnology may well come to represent the mainstream of drug delivery systems and other technologies.