Journoz: Updates for Australian Journalists

Too small for the naked eye

In just a few years, the field of nanotechnology has grown into a worldwide scientific and industrial enterprise. The US National Science Foundation (http://www.nsf.org/) predicts that the global marketplace for goods and services using nanotechnologies will grow to $1 trillion by 2015, and there are already more than 500 products -- self-cleaning windows, automobile paint, sunscreens -- that claim they are made with nanoscale or engineered nanomaterials. A new generation of drugs and biomedical devices will soon appear on the market as the disciplines of nanotechnology and biotechnology increasingly merge. But how safe is this stuff? Who is regulating it? A new report from the US-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (http://www.wilsoncenter.org/) looks at these issues and what the public already know and think they want. The report, Informed Public Perceptions of Nanotechnology and Trust in Government, explores public attitudes and highlights the concerns people may have about nanotechnology's uses. It's at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/news/docs/macoubriereport.pdf. Posted by belinda at September 29, 2005 12:06 PM

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