The Sept. 11 attacks confirmed the ongoing terrorist threat and the importance of proactive development of methods to prevent nanotech abuse, K. Eric Drexler, Chairman of the Foresight Institute said in a statement sent to institute members.”Foresight’s position favoring speedy development of advanced nanotech has also been strengthened,” he said. “The longer we wait, the better the infrastructure worldwide, the smaller the budget and project needed–and the easier to hide the work. Let’s do it fast, while it’s more difficult, expensive, and harder to conceal.”

Drexler said the “nanotechnology boom” is beginning–“already private investment in nanotech outstrips that from government”–and urged members to use their brains and their wallets to “ensure that the field of nanotechnology never has its own Sept. 11.”

Drexler’s full statement