A fuel-free, magnetically driven nickel-algal flagella nanomotor was developed. The nanomotor was readily prepared using a streptavidin-coated Au/Ni/Au nanowire and biotinylated-isolated flagella obtained from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The nanomotor exhibited defined locomotion parallel to the magnetic field axis, with a speed of 14 mu m s(-1). The nanomotor was found to capture a magnetic particle smoothly and to transport the particle efficiently.