Analysis Of Societal Implications Of Nanotechnology
Do you remember the euphoria of looking through a microscope or a telescope for the first time and realising how insignificant we are on the grand scale of the universe & how ignorant we were towards nature’s building blocks-ATOM. Nobody knew that this curiosity and the thirst for knowledge will take humanity to where it is today. Only observing the astronomical objects was never enough for us, which eventually resulted into space race and so on, likewise just observing the cells was never enough, we wanted to interact with them, & when we were able interact & study them, we wanted to observe the constituents of these cells so that the cycle of curiosity may never stop. Due to which today we have an electron microscope worth 27 million dollars with the resolution of half of the size of hydrogen atom. Humanity was introduced to nanotechnology in 4th century and during that time we did not even knew that we were already interacting with atoms on nanoscale in the form of the Lycurgus Cup, and since then we have made so many discovery and invention in the department of nanotechnology. But hasn’t it been too long since we have been hearing the hype about this new upcoming technology which is going to revolutionize world. So where is this revolution and how is it going to impact us?
These questions are important because just like every other tech it has its own sets of benefits and risk. The revolution we have anticipating has evolved into an evolutionary process which will happen slowly but surely. These benefit and risk are the major reason that we need consider the societal implications on the upcoming technology before they become completely integrated with our day to day life. There is no question that it has to potential to change the industry, economy, society, environment & many more things but at the same time there are some risks involved when dealing with these nano-particles. Risk can vary from really small machine in your body malfunction to accidental release of nano-particles into the environment which may be toxic for the living beings in it. But the benefits are way to good when compared to the risk, these benefits can vary from more efficient manufacturing lines, better medical tools to increase human potential and increase the sustainability of our planet. These benefits are only a few among many and every country recognises them, as a result of which there has been a lot of research going on.
Different organisations like NNI (National Nanotechnology Initiative) have been spending money for R&D in nanotechnology. In 1997 about 340 million dollars was spent in 1997, and just 6 years later (2003) about 3 billion dollars was spent. As of 2016, 52. 3%of publications were made countries in Asia and Oceania. There has been an exponential increase in the number of patents in nanotechnology which means that this field is really as promising at seems and we can expect the change but it’s going to take a lot more time than we anticipated. Let us understand the risk and then the benefits and how they are going to influence our environment. Kevin L. Dreher has mentioned in paper how single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) particle will affect a rodent within a period of 90 days. He observed Pulmonary Granulomas in those mice by two different persons and concluded that SWCNT is more toxic than quartz. He also made an astute assessment after observing in the manufacturer’s material safety data chart that SWCNT was classified under graphite which needs to be changed. This is one example where mishandling of nanoparticle can potential damage humans and other organisms can result into adverse health effects.
The other risks with nano-particles can be recycling issues, sustainability of the product, biological impact, exposure or toxicology. We need understand that all this risk can be minimised, contained on completely eliminated if extra measures are taken. Nanotechnology can make an influential change in other fields like biology, medical, biotechnology, military, etc. , medical applications of nanotechnology are going to have a drastic change. In a living system, the self-assembly, cellular process, cell repairing, tissue regeneration is one of the many areas where and system biology can improved by nanotech. All these applications are leading to prolonging human life. Nanoscale surgery where only the nanosized devices can be used as per the need of the patient. There are going to be devices which are going to perform medical test in few minutes and give you result asap rather than waiting for hours or days for the report to come in. After treating ourselves from illness we are going to try to improve our self biologically such as increasing a human’s sensory capabilities or connecting people telepathically with the help of nanodevices. These do sound like farfetched idea but from telegraph to mobile phones we have been trying the same. Nano sensors can become a widely used sensor in every system where feedback from the environment is important. Just like Kevlar we may end up with light weight material which is much more light weight, comfortable and harder than its predecessor. Astronauts may end up using these nano-sensors and other stuff for research purposes.
On the agricultural aspect we can end up having completely genetically modified food which will last a lot longer with more nutritious content as food has been one of our all-time major concerns. Bio chips or green chips in nanoscale can make a big impact on the industry as far more less material will be used & productivity will be increased greatly, as these chips will be nanosized they will require far less energy source compared to its bigger counterparts & yielding the same result necessary by the customer or the user. Water purification can be improved which will end up saving us energy, material & cost too. Nanotechnology will make our life much easier but, there will be social concerns of the people towards the change. Some may react in a positive way and others in a negative way & it is very important that we remove these negative concerns from people mind so that the transition to the nanotechnology can be as smooth as possible. There has been a lot of research been conducted in this. The bizarre idea of how a material can have different properties in macro and nano scale gives us a whole new area to explore. Many of these researches will result into a new generation of electronics hardware which will make the electronic industry a lot more efficient. After all this comes into existence, we would still need to evaluate the ethical, social, political & moral aspect for them.
There are organisations doing research in this kind of matters don’t get unbalanced with the current system. It was estimated that about 50% of new products in manufacturing and medical will be influenced by nanotech in 2015, but as nanotech has not acted like an industrial revolution as believed so this hasn’t been arrived yet. Every new form of technology that has come forward in last few years has made some or the other impact in improving the quality of life so that future social scenarios can be better than today. Nanotechnology has the potential of converging itself with other technology which helps in the productivity as well as economically. These kinds of converging technologies will have a major impact on national security and space exploration program. Education programs and public opinion will change depending on how the technology is being applied and likewise ethically laws will need to be reconsidered. At the same time the risk can’t be ignored, we will need to properly maintain our facilities to ensure that these risks don’t result accidents like poisonous nono-particles being released into the environment. There are already nano-particles in the nature before we discovered nanotechnology, so it’s not like they are a danger to us because inly few of them are toxic to us.
Nanotechnology is already a major part of our society in the form of processors we use in our computer but there is still a lot to be explored and implemented in it. If people are willing to look on the bright side of nanotechnology then they should accept the risk that come with it. Obviously, there are going to be unexpected scenarios and for them an efficient govt. body or organisation with its own set of legal as well as ethical rules needs to be established to control these scenarios. The risks are always going to be there, they were always there whenever we stepped into a new kind technology or science and in the past, these risks never stopped us and even now they won’t. We are moving towards a better future where nanotechnology can be far more than a processor in our day to day life.
