ISSUES RELATED TO

NANOTECHNOLOGY

Legal Issues
Patents
to have a solid grasp of certain applications the examiner may need an in depth knowledge of
engineering, biology and physics -- and the number of researchers in the world with such
capabilities are not easy to come by.
Michel Hoffmann, 2006

biotechnology
pharmaceuticals
Patent Applicability: It is generally accepted that the properties of matter
and other fundamental scientific discoveries are not patentable. In order
to secure a patent, the invention must be "any new and useful process,
machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful
improvement thereof.
Terry K. Tullis, Current Intellectual Property Issues in

Nanotechnology, 2004 UCLA J.L. & Tech. Notes 12

http://www.lawtechjournal.com/notes/2004/12_040809_tullis.php

Legal Issues
Regulation

Nanotechnology is likely to produce a great deal of debate for

government regulation; the goal of this debate would be to achieve a
balance between comprehensive regulation, focused regulation, and, in
some instances, no regulation. Joel Rothstein Wolfson, Social and Ethical Issues in
Nanotechnology: Lessons from Biotechnology and Other High Technologies , 22 Biotechnology L. Rep. 376,
384 (2003).

Any regulatory extreme may present a risk; on one end, very little
regulation may make investors reluctant to support development, on
the other hand, too much regulation may lead to undesirable, and
avoidable, consequences. Fiedler et al., 3 S. Cal. Interdisc. L.J. at 603.
The vast range of devices and products that will likely be produced by
nanotechnology companies may require many agencies, such as the
Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the
National Institute of Health, or the Department of Health and Human
Services, to either have their own regulatory approach or to develop a
coordinated regulatory approach. Wolfson, 22 Biotechnology L. Rep. at 384.

Environmental Issues
Grey Goo

At the grossest level, there is the fear that someone will

design self-replicating nanorobots, capable of making copies of
themselves from materials found in nature, and that those nanorobots will
convert everything in the world into copies of themselves, thus wiping out
the entire biosphere.

Military Applications devices that can infiltrate electronics and

seize control at crucial moments, artificial disease agents that can rest
harmlessly in victims bodies until activated by an external signal, and so
on.

Environmental Nanotechnology-based agents for crop destruction,

forest-cover removal, and area-denial applications are likely to pose
familiar environmental problems in a new fashion.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds 2001, Environmental Regulation of Nanotechnology:Some Preliminary Observations,

Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC., http://www.eli.org

Societal Issues
Studying the societal impacts of a new technology

examines how a product will be used, what existing

technologies it might displace, what kind of jobs it
might create, and what might be the potential
economic impact of the technology.
New business opportunities in nanotechnology are
beginning rapidly while current industry leaders are
increasing their investments. Like many new research
areas, nanotechnology has the potential to change
industries, allowing smaller, more flexible businesses
to overtake larger, established businesses.
Societal Dynamics of Nanotechnology http://www.clarkson.edu/projects/nanobird

Health and Safety Issues

http://www.clarkson.edu/projects/nanobird/2.2.php

Health and Safety Issues

The difficulty facing members of the scientific community when

studying these effects of nanomaterials on our health is that

many of these studies are being performed on animals instead
of humans. Though this is a frequent practice in
pharmaceuticals and other disciplines, there are difficulties in
relating reactions observed in animals with potential reactions in
humans.

Toxicity studies using mice and rats suggest that certain

nanomaterials could be more toxic than quartz, traditionaly

thought to induce serious damage in humans. However, these
studies directly injected nanoparticles into the tracheas of these
rhodents, rather than observing them inhaling the particles as a
human might.

Societal Dynamics of Nanotechnology http://www.clarkson.edu/projects/nanobird

Conclusion
Most issues on nanotechnology are

still at its infancy and inconclusive

Patchy regulatory framework
Rogue group may take advantage of
this loose work