The Present, Future and Ethics of Nanotechnology

Marlon Green

Writing 122

Vincent E. Lasnik

December 7, 2010

Word count: 1871

The world has embraced nanotechnology with open arms. What once was science fiction, something you watched on Star Trek is now a global reality. Majority of us have not even noticed. Whether you are a CEO of a multibillion dollar die cast company, a heart surgeon, an auto repair shop manager, a drug company representative, or even a house painter. Nanotechnology will impact you. This is not just a new range of technology but a new social force. The family of Nano scale technologies, like numerous other perilous issues of our time, stands at a stage of choices for human ethics.

The concept of Nano scale technology begins with the boldly speculative nineteen fifty nine speech “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by Nobel Prize winning Theoretical physicist Richard Feynman. In the speech he said he was not afraid to consider the question whether ultimately in the great future, we can arrange the atoms the way we want (Feynman, 1959). Scientists in the beginning had meant Nano machines of some sort that would be able to build desired entities atom by atom (Molecular manufacturing). Today nanotechnology can be more broadly viewed as the contemporary result of a natural downsizing progression in nearly all the sciences and there techniques.

Nanotechnology is the study and control of manipulating matter at dimensions between approximately one and one hundred nanometers. Their size allows them to reveal innovative and substantially improved physical, biological, and chemical properties. In other words, nanotechnology is the ability to build items from the bottom up. The abilities of what we can do today are imaginary.

Nanotechnology has improved our everyday way of living. Consumers have more choices in the type of fabrics they wear more than ever before. In addition to natural fibers like cotton, silk, and wool there are now a wide variety of synthetics on retail shelves. With the nanotechnology they have been able to create more durable clothing meaning it will not wear as rapidly, they are more resistant to water, dirt and other chemicals. Other features for clothing include a lighter impact resistant materials and even shape and color changing abilities (Nanotech in Fashion, 2004).

This new technology also benefits the health field. Currently scientist are studying and using nanotechnology to treat ovarian cancer patients. Doctors are using what they call Nano carriers or drug delivery vehicles. These Nano carriers target a specific area or cell in the body, making chemotherapy or other treatments enhanced. They also use time released drugs which is an ideal drug formula with maximum benefits for patients. Time release drugs release at a minimum effective concentration over a period of time (Yallapu, Jaggi & Chaauhan, 2010, p.2). There also in the development of nanotechnology tools for single virus detection. R. Kannangai said “Nanotechnology is likely to revolutionize diagnosis and determining treatment endpoints for life threatening virus infections” (Kannangai, 2010, p.).

Nanotechnology has many other uses besides consumer products and the health field. In 2003 the Department of Defense invested $243 million in the research of nanotechnology (Hunt & Mehta, 2006, p. 18). The military wants to use nanotechnology for advancing both offensive and defensive purposes. According to Hunt & Mehta, the military’s utmost interest is information acquisition, processing, storage. This includes chemical and biological warfare. The institute for soldier nanotechnology (ISN) at MIT is an interdepartmental research center founded in 2002 by a $50 million, five year contract with the U.S. Army Research Office. Their goal is to develop and exploit nanotechnology to dramatically improve the survivability of soldiers. The ultimate goal is to help the Army create a 21st Century battle suit that combines high tech capabilities with light weight and comfort (Institute For Soldier Nanotechnology, 2002). Every year the military has West Point and MIT students in soldier design competitions. This is serious business.

The picture to the right is a display of what military forces are currently using in 2010 and what will be presented in 2020. The uniform on the right is the current attire for the military. The unit on the left is the future 2020 model. These uniforms are far more advanced than the uniforms of the past. They are of Nano design, making them lighter, stronger and far more advanced than ever thought before. With an on board computer that sits at the base of the soldiers back, complete with 17 inch display that drops down from there helmet, to display information without taking their hands off there weapon (Hanlon, 2008). The 2010 uniform is at the top of its class, nanotechnology at its best.

The present rate of advancement in nanotechnology is exponential. We are moving so rapidly that dreams may come true in our life time. People living with chronic arthritis may be relieved of pain permanently, all the way up to the sick with the most shattering diseases may be alleviated. Imagine being able to accomplish a task like this.

Engines of healing would be able to heal the sick. Engines of healing are Nano devices consisting essentially of two parts. One part is a Nano computer programmed to carry out one or more tasks such as looking for abnormal cells, something like cancer cells or tissue. Once the Nano bot locates a problem, the second part would be to repair and reconstruct the cellular damage (Newton, 2002, p. 29). With future discoveries in Nano medicine doctors would be able to have your entire DNA mapped out, they would be able to diagnose any condition with in a matter of hours versus weeks, months, and even years, including diagnosing future conditions that may occur.

If engines of healing are possible, what about something like engine tracking? Making the most dangerous criminals ingest Nano bots for tracking purposes. Picture being able to track the most dangerous criminals in the world, for instance, sex offenders. These Nano bots would be programmed to send an alert, with the name and location of the criminal, when the offender is within two thousand feet of a school. Authorities would immediately be notified, and the offender would be picked up on a violation. Another future idea would be to send an electrical current through the body of the criminal, when the boundaries are breached, the closer you come, the longer the shock. Is this ethical? This would lower costs for policing these types of criminals. Parents around the world would feel more secure.

The benefits of this new technology are tremendous. We will be able to make life much easier for everybody. Our military will be able to execute their missions more precisely, with fewer casualties. Your health may no longer be an issue, with the potential of living forever. All of this is great, but we have to look at the potential down side. This technology is boarder line playing with a Ouija board. With great power there is always plenty of room to abuse it.

Today’s technology allows us to be traced or tracked through cell phones even through your vehicles. Imagine being implanted with Nano bots that track every step you take. What if the government decided to spray a mist in the air, similar to how airports seed to clear out fog? Seeding is when super cooled fog is seeded with dry ice pellets, it converts the super cooled water droplets into ice crystals. These crystals attract other crystals, enlarging until they fall as fine snow (Fog Clearing). Instead of being dry ice pellets, this mist would be Nano bots, once airborne you would breathe these tiny particles/machines in to your body. Time for the Nano bots to go to work, tracking your every movement, recording your DNA, monitoring your vitals, and storing all your information digitally, all this without your knowledge. This sounds extreme, but not far off from being a reality. Everything about you would be recorded. Talk about invasion of privacy.

The advance in scientific knowledge of nanotechnology gives use new understanding of the human being. The article Outlining Ethical Issues in Nanotechnologies states “we need to examine carefully both the opportunities and the risks. The predictable and unforeseen, connected with experimenting on human beings, as well as those relating to the various uses of nanotechnologies in healthcare” (Spagnolo & Daloiso, 2009, p 394.). Science and technology have combined to create an abundance of consumer products, government weapons, building materials, and so on. With this being said, we have to determine a level of ethical significance. I believe that the use of nanotechnology on human beings is the highest ethical concern. We are in the experimental stages of using this technology on human beings. There needs to be stringent guidelines and regulations. Outlining ethical issues means understanding the impact of these technologies on human health (Spagnolo & Daloiso, 2009, p 395.).

Nano bots if handled properly will do what I’ve described. What if they are mishandled or an experiment goes terribly wrong. These miniature doctors and construction workers can be a threat to humans, before you know it technology will surpass humans, and if we don’t deal with these problems now, or prepare for these problems. Then the human race can plan on a short life. No one can see the future but we can come close, if we deal with the basic issues of today.

Picture these machines being able to replicate there selves, Able to think for themselves. The future may bring life like intelligence. What if these artificially intelligent Nano bots turn on the human race like a virus? We have enough issues dealing with viruses, let alone deal with intelligent self-replicating viruses that can travel a small breeze, and destroy the entire world in a matter of days. Eric Drexler describes this as a “gray goo problem”. Depending on their natures and their goals, advanced artificial intelligence systems might accumulate enough knowledge and power to displace us, if we don't prepare properly (Drexler, 1986). It is clear that making a mistake with self-replicating Nano bots can be catastrophic to the human species.

Once again we have another world wide threat. Not only do we have to be concerned with scientist properly handling this technology, but What about the terrorists of the world? What will it be next a Nano bomb, Maybe Nano bots that are created to deliver a biological weapon? How could you stop something you cannot see? How could you stop something that can travel through a summer breeze? How could you stop something that you may not detect until it is too late? As you can see for every positive there is a negative to nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology will impact our world more than the industrial revolution, expanding our ability to learn and communicate more than the telephone, accelerating our ability to travel more than the automobile. Technology today is so advanced that we see more changes now in a lifetime than ever before. The more advanced we become, the more problematic society becomes, the more ethical issues are bestowed on us. As you can see, nanotechnology is a great discovery that has opened the door to numerous opportunities, opportunities that were just science fiction 30 years ago. Scientists must learn how to respond effectively and proactively to avert any consequential and irreversible social and environmental harm.

Annotated Bibliography
Drexler, E. (1986). Engines of Creation . Retrieved December 7, 2010, from http://e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Chapter_11.html#section01of05 This book was written about nanotechnology coming of age. Excellent book coming from a Doc. Drexler
Fog Clearing . (n.d.). In Jackson County Airpor Authority. Retrieved December 6, 2010, from http://www.co.jackson.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=91 A nice article on seeding, I wasn’t going to put it in but I felt like the reader had to know what seeding is.
Hanlon, Mike. Gizmag. Military , 2008. Web. 6 Dec. 2010. . This article was a good source to show what the military is using nanotechnology for. Although it didn’t say anything about Nano’s it did show the light weight futuristic materials, and electronics stemming from nanotechnology.
Hunt, Geoffrey, and Michael Mehta. Nanotechnology Risk, Ethics, and Law. London: Earthscan, 2006. 18-19. Print. This book is an excellent find with more than enough information. Written by a professor of Ethics and a professor of Sociology
Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. ISN, 2002. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. http://web.mit.edu/isn/aboutisn/index.html There’s not a lot of information on here but it did describe what the military was doing
Kannangai, R., Abraham, A., Sankar, S., & Sridharan, G. (2010). Nanotechnology tools for single-virus particle detections. Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology, 95(9), 28. I didn’t particularly like this article; I did take a quote from the article.
Nanotech in Fashion: The Trend in New Fabrics. (2004, September). In NPR. Retrieved November 22, 2010, from www.npr.org This article was small but straight to the point. Perfect example of nanotechnology and fabrics.
Newton, D. (2002). Recent Advances and Issues in Molecular Nanotechnology (pp. 29-32). Westport: Greenwood Press. This book gave excellent issues in nanotechnology, I would recommend it.
Spagnolo, A. G., & Daloiso, V. (2009). Outlining Ethical Issues in Nanotechnologies. Bioethics, 23(7), 394-395 Great article the ethical issues and views are outstanding.

Yallapu, M. M., Jaggi, M., & Chauhan, S. C. (2010). Scope of nanotechnology in ovarian cancer. Journal of Ovarian Research, 3(19), 2-3. This journal was an excellent find to help describe how nanotechnology is working in the health industry

----------------------- http://www.zeitgeistaustralia.org/an-introduction-to-nano-technology/ http://www.gizmag.com/go/3062/

http://www.coe.drexel.edu/ret/personalsites/2006/Stanisz/curriculum.html