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Thesis

Nature Nanotechnology 3, 578–579 (1 October 2008) | doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.288

When it pays to ask the public

Richard Jones

The development of nanotechnology as a separate discipline has coincided with some important shifts in our ideas about the relationship between science (and technology) and society. Because of this, we have seen an unprecedented interest in exploring ways of somehow involving the public in decisions about science and technology — including decisions about funding, despite some unease in the scientific community — even though the potential impacts of nanotechnology remain speculative.