Nanomachines

From Earth Central

These are tiny nanometer sized machines which are used to better humanity in the Polity. There exist several classes including nanoassemblers and disassemblers in the replicating and non replicating forms. Nanoassmeblers are able to create almost anything by rearranging various molecules in different ways based on a template available to the user. Disassemblers break down almost anything. Metals above iron, however pose a special problem for general disassmeblers due to the nuclear binding energy. Specialized versions can disassemble iron but only by supplying additional power, but this is generally not used, as assemblers can be used to create nanosaws and drills to break down the iron mechanically. Jain biotech is synthetic biological version of this concept.