What are molecular assemblers (i.e. nanobots, nanomachines, nanites, and nanobites)?
At this time synthetic molecular assemblers have never been constructed. A wide array of controversy surrounds the possibility of creating such a “machine”. They are thought to be highly desirable since they have been theorized to manufacture products with absolute precision and thus without any pollution. However, others have warned that such a powerful technology might get out of control and begin to compete with natural life forms on earth. A molecular assembler is a single molecule machine that would assemble individual atoms or molecules according to specific instructions to construct a desired product. Some biological molecules such as ribosome’s fit this definition since working within the cell’s environment; they receive instructions from mRNA and then assembles specific sequences of amino acids to construct protein molecules. However, the term “molecular assembler” refers to theoretical man-made synthetic devices.
