Press releases
Please quote Nature Nanotechnology as the source of these items.
The November 2007 issue of Nature Nanotechnology is available online.
November 2007
Risks and benefits of nanotechnology
Researchers working on nanoscience and nanotechnology are more optimistic than the general public about the potential benefits of research in their field but, unusually for new technologies, they are also more worried about some of the risks, according to a commentary published online this week in Nature Nanotechnology.
Dietram Scheufele and co-workers surveyed 1,015 US adults and 363 nanoscientists earlier this year. Over 90% of the scientists felt that nanotechnology would lead to better treatment of diseases and over 80% felt that it would lead to a cleaner environment and a solution to energy problems. Almost 45% of the public, on the other hand, were worried that nanotechnology would lead to a loss of privacy, compared with around 30% of nanoscientists. However, nanoscientists were more worried than the general public about nanotechnology causing more pollution and new health problems.
"Our research shows that industry and university scientists are among the handful of groups the public trusts the most for information about nanotechnology — much more than governmental bodies, regulatory agencies and news media," write Scheufele and co-workers. "Nanotechnology may, therefore, be one of the first emerging technologies where academia and business have the ability to reach out directly to a public who trusts the information they provide. Ironically, nanotechnology may also be the first emerging technology for which scientists may have to explain to that public why they should be more rather than less concerned about some potential risks".
