Improved Governance Needed To Realize Nanotech's Benefits

Without an improved governance structure, the benefits of nanotechnology may be difficult to fully realize because the public will not trust the cutting-edge technology, says David Rejeski, director of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN). Rejeski testifies on Thursday, April 24, before the Senate subcommittee on technology and innovation.

"Public trust is the 'dark horse' in nanotechnology's future," says Rejeski in his testimony. "If government and industry do not work to build public confidence in nanotechnology, consumers may reach for the 'No-Nano' label in the future and investors will put their money elsewhere. Public perceptions about risks -- real and perceived -- can have large economic impacts. For example, the European Union's ban on genetically modified foods, driven largely by public concerns, cost American farmers an estimated $300 million annually in lost sales and much more in products that never made it to the marketplace."

Lawmakers are currently discussing amendments to and reauthorization of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research & Development Act, which helps sets the roadmap for the annual $1.5 billion federal spending on nanotechnology research that is vital to ensuring the
technology's success.

Nanotechnology is the ability to measure, see, manipulate and manufacture things usually between 1 and 100 nanometers. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter; a human hair is roughly 100,000 nanometers wide. By 2014, Lux Research projects that $2.6 trillion in global manufactured goods will incorporate nanotechnology, or about 15 percent of total global
output.

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