nanobots/nanites- A to Z

Nanobots or Nanites are as of yet still the stuff of science fiction.  They have been used to do everything from repair the human body to building larger scale robots.  Science fiction isn't sure if this microscopic robots are good or bad yet but science has them pegged for breaking down pollution or delivering treatment to specific cells.  Think of a robot that could find an infected cancer cell and send a concentrated blast of radiation to only that cell.  Pretty cool huh.  These things are still away off, so for the time being we will have to make due with them in our fiction. 

Here are two examples of nanobots in fiction.  Prey, by the late Michael Crichton, approaches them as miniature terminators with a hive type mind.  Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson, puts them in a more positive light, although nanobots become their own form of pollution.  I like these two as they really look at the research and or results of nanotechnology.  Most fiction doesn't really give an explanation for them and just uses them to make someone speak an alien language or heal overnight. 

Whether science actually develops them or not, I see them sticking around in our collective imaginations for quite some time.