Book excerpt: Nanotechnology is a 'catch-all' description of activities at the level of atoms and molecules that have applications in the real world. A nanometre is a billionth of a metre, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair, or 10 times the diameter of a hydrogen atom. Nanotechnology is now used in precision engineering, new materials development as well as in electronics; electromechanical systems as well as mainstream biomedical applications in areas such as gene therapy, drug delivery and novel drug discovery techniques. This book leading-edge research from around the world in this dynamic field.