A field effect transistor memory cell has a source region, a drain region, a channel region and a gate region, with the channel region extending from the source region to the drain region and being formed from at least one nanowire which has at least one defect such that charges can be trapped in the defects and released from the defects by a voltage applied to the gate region. A memory device built up from such memory cells and a method of manufacturing such memory cells is also disclosed.