Send to a friend
The details you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited email, and will not be sold to a 3rd party. See privacy policy.
In response to its 2004 study into the risks and benefits of nanotechnology research, the
The government says the new research programme should lead to a framework for containing any “unacceptable risks” associated with creating technologies on the scale of one-tenth of a human hair.
The 2004 study had concluded that although the short-term health risks from nanotechnology were small, little was known about the longer-term risk to human health and the environment — for example, in agriculture and food production (see Science of the small could create ‘nano-divide’).
The report pinpoints three main research priorities: to better understand the physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles, how people and the environment might be exposed to them — for example, whether the particles can be absorbed through the soil or groundwater — and the impact that nanoparticles could have on human health and the environment.
“This report sets out the ambitious and forward-looking research agenda that is needed to ensure that we are able to identify and manage potential risks associated with the use of nanotechnologies,” says Howard Dalton, chief scientific advisor to the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
As part of the
Developments in areas like genetic engineering — cloning, for example — show that scientific developments can rarely be separated from their social context.
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has been given up to US$4.3million to investigate these wider social issues, and stakeholders will be consulted throughout the implementation of the research programme.
In total, the report identifies 19 research objectives and describes ways in which they could be funded. Several
The US$8.5 million brings the total spending on nanotechnology research by government, agencies and research councils in the