Global Ethics and Nanotechnology: A Comparison of the Nanoethics Environments of the EU and China

The following article offers a brief overview of current nanotechnology policy, regulation and ethics in Europe and The People’s Republic of China with the intent of noting (dis)similarities in approach, before focusing on the involvement of the public in science and technology policy (i.e. participatory Technology Assessment). The conclusions of this article are, that (a) in terms of nanosafety as expressed through policy and regulation, China PR and the EU have similar approaches towards, and concerns about, nanotoxicity—the official debate on benefits and risks is not markedly different in the two regions; (b) that there is a similar economic drive behind both regions’ approach to nanodevelopment, the difference being the degree of public concern admitted; and (c) participation in decision-making is fundamentally different in the two regions. Thus in China PR, the focus is on the responsibility of the scientist; in the EU, it is about government accountability to the public. The formulation of a Code of Conduct for scientists in both regions (China PR’s predicted for 2012) reveals both similarity and difference in approach to nanotechnology development. This may change, since individual responsibility alone cannot guide S&T development, and as public participation is increasingly seen globally as integral to governmental decision-making

Nanotechnology and the Global South: Exploratory views on characteristics, perceptions and paradigms

In the Global North, confusion, hype and disagreement plague nanotechnology debates. In the meantime, the debate about the Global South's engagement with nanotechnology has forged ahead, assuming common understandings about what nanotechnology is and what it is not, as well as the general irrelevance of definitional debates. This despite evidence that nanotechnology is being presented in a conflicting manner in the literature, through mixed terminology and imagery, and that little has been documented about Southern understandings. Given the importance of understandings in the genetically-modified foods debate, the way nanotechnology is understood holds serious repercussions for the framing of its ethical, legal and social implications. This chapter reports on the perspectives of Thai and Australian key informants, from a broad range of fields. It seeks to explore and clarify how nanotechnology might be defined, perceived and framed in terms of the South. The results suggest that nanotechnology may be conceptualized in similar ways, focussing on near-term nanotechnology that is defined by a common set of characteristics. Yet, when it comes to the way these conceptualisations translate into applications, there may be large differences in nanotechnology's perceived scope, sophistication and complexity. This holds interesting ramifications for global nanotechnology discourse, particularly in terms of the assumed costs and infrastructure required to conduct nanotechnology research and development and the more general role the South will play in the global nanotechnology picture. © 2009 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved

Scientists’ perception of ethical issues in nanomedicine - a case study

Research and development in nanomedicine has been accompanied by the consideration of ethical issues; however, little is known about how researchers working in this area perceive such issues. Extracting data from 22 semi-structured interviews with nanomedicine practitioners, this case study explores scientists’ attitude towards and knowledge of ethical issues. We found that scientists reflect with ambiguity on the reputed novelty of nanomedicine and what are ethical issues and risks in their work. Respondents see no necessity for a paradigm shift in ethical considerations, but view ethical issues in nanomedicine as overlapping with those of other areas of biomedical research. Most respondents discuss ethical issues they faced in scientific work with their colleagues but expect benefit from additional information and training on ethics. Our findings can contribute to the design of new strategies - including training programs - to engage scientists in ethical discussion and stimulate their responsibility as nanomedicine practitioners

Risk, responsibility, rights, regulation and representation in the value chain of nano-products

This chapter reports on a research project which addresses one key question and a number of sub-questions. The key question is, what are the salient dimensions of the commercialisation and governance of nano-enabled products, covering regulation, risks, responsibilities, consumer rights, and representations to the consumer? The sub-question, and the particular focus of this paper is, how are nano-enabled products destined for consumer markets labelled and marketed? Within this more specifically, how do producers perceive and strategically target consumers, and communicate with them (or not) about the nano-component of their products? Then, does the way that consumers are conceived of and understood by different actors along the value chain change in terms of how the product is marketed? Finally, what are the ethical, governance and regulatory implications of the answers to these questions? The chapter builds on an ongoing collaborative project between SIFO (Norway's National Institute for Consumer Research) and the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research at Manchester Business School, UK. The work is a comparison of ethical aspects in the marketing of nanoproducts in Norway and the UK. This chapter provides preliminary findings and some reflections based on empirical material; an analysis of web-based and other communications, interviews along the value chain, i.e. with producers, importers , retailers and other 'intermediaries'; and eight group discussions across the two countries focussing on cosmetics and textiles. © 2009 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved

Investigations into the electrical properties of hybrid memristor devices containing surface modified zinc oxide nanorods

This thesis focusses on improving the fabrication and electronic switching properties of hybrid memristor devices that have been developed in the nanophysics group at the University of Hull. The devices consist of vertically aligned semiconducting ZnO nanorods embedded within an organic polymer (Polymethyl-methacrylate) matrix. They are made using a novel ultra-fast microwave fabrication technique, which provides a simple and cost effective route to the fabrication of devices in large numbers and on lightweight and flexible substrates.The primary aim of this work was to improve the resistance on/off ratio in the memristors by modifying the ZnO surface stoichiometry. The nanorods high surface area to volume ratio is expected to be important in the switching since it has been shown that the mobility of defects at surfaces of transition metal oxides is much higher than in the bulk. Thus it is possible that either oxygen vacancies and/or zinc interstitials confined on the surface of the ZnO shuttle up and down along the lengths of the nanorods to mediate the switching. Investigations are focussed on the modification of the nanorod surface through oxygen plasma treatment as well as studying changes in the electrical performance of the nanorods by changing the nanorod diameter.Investigations into the effects of exposing the nanorods to an oxygen plasma showed increased resistance of both the high and low resistive states (HRS/LRS) of devices. Energy Dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy results indicated that a likely cause of the increased resistance is increased oxygen in the nanorod surface, producing a more stoichiometric (ZnO2) and resistive material.Attempts at manipulating the overall surface stoichiometry through changes in the surface area to volume ratio, implemented by changing the nanorods diameter, was not successful with the approach used in this work. This was because the nanorod diameter could not be significantly modified through the technique of changing the annealing temperature of the nanocrystal seed layer. This was unexpected as it has been previously reported that the nanorod diameter can be varied between 40nm and 350nm by annealing the seed layer at temperatures between 150°C and 500°C respectively.It is worth noting throughout the investigations that the use of low incidence X-ray diffraction measurements on the thin-films proved to be a quick and reliable way to confirm nanorod alignment and growth along the C axis