Transitioning nanoscale devices from the realm of one-of-a-kind feats into robust and reproducible nanosystems – that is, tools useful for medical and biological research – is a monumental challenge that transcends the capabilities of any one lab. Some of the first steps have now been taken towards this end, and such efforts are critical for realizing the promise of “active” nanotechnology. At least two essential elements must be in place to realize the vast applications potential that awaits. First, an unfamiliar fusion of technologies is required; one that melds techniques from traditionally-separate disciplines with an appropriate scale of approach. Second, robust methods for biological large-scale-integration are required, and these must engender routes to production en masse.

The kind of disciplined assemblage of disparate technologies required is, perhaps, more familiar within the commercial sector than academia. But it is now essential, whether for pursuing fundamental research in medicine and the life sciences or, subsequently, for the development of future biomedical technology.

To illustrate the emerging potential of nanosystems I will describe advances in nanoscale mechanical devices that now allow us to envisage unprecedented measurements at the level of single cells and molecules. Two examples among such opportunities are mapping the forces generated by living cells in real time, ultimately with piconewton-scale, single-molecule resolution; and performing mass spectrometry on all of the proteins within an individual cell.