Nanotech opens up many other research avenues as well. Scientists can now study the behavior of individual molecules in a population instead of that of the aggregate group. Stephen Kowalczykowski, professor of microbiology, molecular, and cell biology, University of California, Davis, says this is like comparing what one learns by interviewing each person in a group to getting a consensus view. "If you ask the group, you'll get the average response, and you will not know that there are people who have strong opinions to one extreme or another, or behaviors that are far from the norm," he says. "Oftentimes, it's these more outrageous opinions that are the most controversial or interesting."