Nanoscale materials enable unique opportunities at the interface between the physical and life sciences, for example, by integrating nanoelectronic devices with cells and/or tissue to make possible communication at the length scales relevant to biological function. In this presentation, the development of nanowires, nanowire-based nanoelectronic devices and their application as powerful tools for the recording and stimulation from the level of single cells to tissue will be discussed. First, a brief introduction to the synthesis of complex modulated nanowires will be highlighted as a central material in nanoscience for enabling scientific studies across a broad range of fields. Second, we will introduce key constraints for developing electronic devices for biological studies. We will discuss our focus on ?active‘ nanoelectronic devices and compare these to other electrophysiology tools to illuminate strengths/weaknesses and opportunities enabled by active devices. Third, the creation of new nanoelectronic probes capable of intracellular recording and stimulation at scales heretofore not possible with existing techniques will be discussed.