Industrial revolution

Nanotechnology has been described by many enthusiasts as the trigger of the next great industrial revolution. It is based on a new approach to manufacture in which the properties of materials are controlled and modified at the atomic scale. There are realistic expectations of nanotechnology having a major impact in industrial sectors ranging from materials and electronics to biotechnology, medicine and healthcare. It could possibly revolutionize approaches to producing cheap and environmentally-friendly energy sources, and to cleaning up pollution.

This enormous potential for has led some analysts to predict a market value in excess of $1 trillion within ten years, and in order to benefit from such an economic expansion, many governments are investing heavily in infrastructure, training, research and development. It all sounds very attractive, so why should there be any concern or controversy? And why should nanotechnology should be compared with GM technology?

Everyone agrees that new technologies often bring disadvantages as well as advantages. The latter are evident at the outset and provide the motivation for commercial development. Problems sometimes become apparent only after a much longer period of time. Public acceptance of new technology is governed to some extent by the perception of the balance of risks and benefits, and herein lies the problem with any rapidly developing technology: should technology be released into the public domain if the risks are not fully understood even although the benefits are? GM technology was rejected in Europe partly because of the lack of obvious benefits but also because of concerns over risk - largely unquantified risk as the necessary experiments and trials had not been undertaken. Food is a special problem area with very special public sensitivities (eg BSE and foot and mouth disease). It is too early yet to know if nanotechnology will introduce significant hazards: there is some evidence that manufactured nanoparticles might be toxic, and little is known about their effect on the environment.

Nanotechnology is qualitatively different from GM technology. Whereas the latter is a discrete technology, nanotechnology is an enabling technology: as already mentioned it will impact on a broad spectrum of industries and services. There are already clear benefits that will accrue from the application of nanotechnology, and there are potential economic disadvantages if we do not exploit it: conventional manufacturing methods will become obsolete, so we stand to lose existing industries as well as losing out on the new opportunities. Clearly, we cannot afford to let nanotechnology become the next GM.

By Professor John Ryan, Director of the Bionanotechnology IRC at Oxford University.