Robotic arms shrunk to submicron size should be able to pick up and assemble molecular parts like their large cousins in factories around the world pick up nuts and bolts and put them together. The Foresight community knew, even then, that nanotechnology was feasible. This allowed discussions over a decade ago about the best policies for dealing with this new technology. Policy discussions were effectively impossible elsewhere because they would almost immediately be sidetracked by debates about feasibility. For those of us who participated in those earlier discussions, today's can at times produce an overwhelming sense of deja vu.
Self replication is at the heart of many policy discussions.
We automatically assume that nanotechnological self replicating systems will be similar. Nothing could be further from the truth. The machines people make bear little resemblance to living systems, and molecular manufacturing systems are likely to be just as dissimilar. Consider, for example, the difference between a bird and an airplane. Yet the image of a 747 going feral, swooping out of the sky to clutch an unsuspecting horse in its landing gear, seems incongruous.