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PRESS RELEASE: OCTOBER 21, 2003
CRN
Calls for Global Administration of Molecular Nanotechnology
The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) is calling for the creation of
a special administrative system to deal with the problems of molecular
manufacturing. This
proposal was the focus of a presentation by Treder at the recent
Discovering the Nanoscale academic conference in Darmstadt, Germany. “We
don't need it today,” said CRN Executive Director
Mike Treder,
“but it will take time to create, and the technology could arrive before we're
ready.”
Molecular nanotechnology (MNT) describes the principle of building products
from the bottom up, molecule by molecule, with atomic precision. Such a
powerful technology could create a wide variety of problems. CRN believes that
no existing body can effectively manage all the benefits and risks.
“Faster and more precise manufacturing is desirable for many reasons,” said
Chris Phoenix,
CRN's Director of Research. “But it appears that MNT could be developed
quickly enough to destabilize many social and political institutions, unless
we prepare well ahead of time.”
The issues are not simple. “To maximize creativity and humanitarian benefit,
people must be able to invent stuff and even to give it away. That has to be
balanced against commercial interests, including protection of intellectual
property,” said Phoenix. “There also will be major security issues that could
cross all borders. You can't construct a complex system to deal with all this
at the last minute.”
Prior to the advent of MNT, a collaborative international
administrative structure
will have to be designed and created to oversee the use of molecular
manufacturing. “At worldwide levels, where things move slowly, this might take
as long as twenty years,” said Treder. “Advanced nanotechnology could arrive
sooner than that, so urgent action is called for now.”
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