Gulf between rich, poor will grow if nanotech opponents prevail
January 28, 2004 | Source: KurzweilAI
The chasm between have and have-not countries will grow even wider if nanotechnology research is blocked by the unbalanced positions of high-profile opponents like Prince Charles, warns a new analysis from a leading global medical ethics think tank.
In an article to be published by the Institute of Physics’ journal “Nanotechnology,” and released Jan. 28 online at Nanotechweb.org, the authors say the potential health, environmental and economic benefits for developing countries of nanotechnology (NT) include:
“While there are legitimate risks that need to be managed, an exclusive focus on the risks will create another divide — the nano-divide — similar to the digital and genomics divides between industrialized and developing countries,” says Dr. Peter Singer, Director of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. “There is a failure adequately to consider and understand how nanotechnology can bring benefits to 5 billion people in developing countries.”