With that lack of constraints, however, comes a lack of knowledge, a lack of examples from nature. A reasonable guess is that several paths will be followed, and will contribute in a synergistic fashion. First-generation nanotechnology need not be based on any single class of molecule or device. In considering this confusing wealth of possibilities, two points are important to keep in mind. Hacking Molecules Nanotechnology may seem remote.
Molecules are invisibly small, and they differ from the familiar objects of daily life.
Manipulating them with assemblers is essential to nanotechnology, but assemblers will take years to develop. Computers, though, can bring nanotechnology closer, letting us design molecular systems using computer models, years before we have assemblers able to build them in real life. If design-ahead were to require expensive facilities and major funding, it would need to wait for broad acceptance of the importance of nanotechnology, or even for a sense of its imminence. This might take years. The growth of amateur molecule-hacking may have major consequences for the emergence of nanotechnology.