In a paper published in the Institute of Physics journal Nanotechnology, Canadian researchers from the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) warns that although most applications of nanotechnology are still decades away, nanotechnology is already arousing alarm about the possible impacts on the environment as well as the impacts on privacy and security. According to The Guardian, the report states that while most industrialised countries are investing heavily in nanotechnology R&D, the ethical, environmental, economic, legal and social implications have not yet been taken seriously and pursued on a large enough scale. Will just the rich nations benefit from nanotechnology or should measures be taken now to ensure that developing countries participate? How will personal privacy be protected in an age of invisible microphones, cameras and tracking devices? Will these technologies increase security or usher in a new era of nano-terrorism? Who will regulate military nanotechnology research? Where do nano-materials go when they enter the environment and what are their effects? How will people react to artificial materials or machines being implanted in humans?
“Calls for a moratorium on deployment of nano-materials should be a wake-up call for nanotechnology developers,” said Dr Abdallah Daar, one of the report’s authors. “The only way to avoid a GM foods-style confrontation is to take immediate steps to close the gap between the science and ethics of nanotechnology.”
Co-author Dr Peter Singer said, “It is to be expected that a technology that promises to make massive changes in our lives would be viewed with suspicion and, perhaps, outright fear. Open public discussion of the benefits and risks of this new technology is urgently needed.”