The Ethics of Nanotechnology Essay

John Bell, James. "Nanotechnology Will Contribute to a "Singularity"" Nanotechnology. Ed. Jacqueline Langwith. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. of "Exploring the Singularity." Futurist 1 June 2003: n. pag. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 7 Oct. 2015. .

In “Value Sensitive Design and Nanotechnology” by Ronald Sandler, Sandler explains the process engineers must consider while they design a technology. Sandler introduces technology and its relationship with society. He points out that some technologies are welcomed by society and may solve world issues while others are resisted by society because they may cause problems. Sandler then observes the dependency humans have on technology. He talks about how important technology is to the survival human race, but also how many current social interactions now happen through technology.

Kurzweil, Ray. "Ray Kurzweil: Bring on the Nanobots, and We Will Live Long and Prosper." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 21 Nov. 2007. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

There is a debate over the ethics of stem cell research and many people on opposing sides of the issue are not aware of all aspects. In order to intelligently debate the legal and ethical issues regarding stem cell research, one must understand what stem cells are, the applications currently available, and the impact of the research. It is also important to understand the distinction between adult and embryonic stem cells before exploring their uses and impacts

Promise and Peril by Ray Kurzweil is an essay about the future of technology and what benefits and risks it will present to the world. It focuses on the fields of genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics, or GNR. Kurzweil wrote this essay as a response to an article Bill Joy wrote called Why The Future Doesn't Need Us. Joy also focuses his article on the topic of GNR technologies, but writes from a pessimistic point of view, as opposed to the optimistic stance taken by Kurzweil. Joy foresees future advances and paints a portrait of a world where technology is ultimately harmful to humans and could possibly challenge the survival of our race. He introduces the concept of relinquishment, where humankind as a whole chooses to dismiss

To answer this, one does not have to look far as the Cavendish Laboratory is rather open with current projects. For example, Nanophotonics, which is the study of the conduct of light on the nanometer scale and its interactions, is an ongoing study at the Cavendish Laboratory (NanoPhotonics, n.d., para. 1). Specifically, the NanoPhotonics Group (NP) is looking into nano-plasmonics, polymer photonic crystals, semiconductor microcavities, et cetera (NanoPhotonics, n.d., para. 2). At this current time, it is rather difficult, as assembling “nano-chunks” of matter into a structure creates nano-materials that have emergent properties, which are not found in their constituents (NanoPhotonics, n.d., para. 3). Their goal is “moving from expensive fabrication of devices to elegant nano-assembly in which materials ‘build themselves’” (NanoPhotonics, n.d., para. 3). Overall this has a large reward if research is successful and actually leads towards a

While some people might say that stem cell research is immoral and unethical, others believe that it is a magical solution for almost any problem, thus leading to a very controversial issue. Scientists have been searching for years for ways to eradicate incurable diseases and perform other medical procedures that yesterday's technology would not fix. With the rapidly arising, positive research on stem cell technology, the potential that exists to restore any deficiency is in the same way, likely to destroy humanity. America is suffering from its inability to choose who holds precedence over this issue. Too many of us find it impossible to reach a basis for which our differing opinions can be shared and formed into a universal and

Imagine a world with less cancer, diabetes, and infant mortality. Yet at the same time, imagine a messed up world with “fake” people. There are so many ups and downs with CRISPR that it has caused many uproars as to whether or not it is ethically right to conduct experiments with. With this technique, we could help lots of people across the world. Yet at the same time, we could screw up and ruin the world with this technique. We need to set a firm line as to whether or not CRISPR is ethical.

It is agreed upon that nanotechnology, like most emerging technologies, requires proper, consistent, and coherent governance, however legal and regulatory questions associated with the technology remain, mostly due to uncertainty and the public’s lack of trust in what may be considered controversial applications and the transparency of the legislative and regulatory decisions. Considering the vague definition of nanotechnology the Foresight Institute encourages self-regulation within the scientific community in order to avoid legislators poorly informed decisions. However, some commentators believe that the public must be informed of the possible risks and regulations and policies must protect the best

Nano materials have inmost a huge concentration in the last two decades because of their unique properties that find potential applications in many fields of science and technology. It has grown explosively in the last decade, because of the increasing availability of methods, synthesis of nanomaterials as well as tools of characterization and manipulation. Nanotechnology makes us to believe that we would have the ability to create anything that we could precisely define.

The National Institutes of Health began the U.S. National Nanomedicine Initiative program in 2005 by developing a national network of Nanomedicine Development Centers. “The two major goals of NIH Nanomedicine Initiative are: 1) understand how the biological machinery inside living cells is built and operates at the nanoscale and, 2) use this information to re-engineer these structures, develop new technologies that could be applied to treating diseases, and/or leverage the new knowledge to focus work

Genetic engineering is the process whereby new DNA is added or existing DNA is altered in an organism 's genome. This may involve changing one base pair (A-T or C-G) or deleting entire sections of DNA or adding additional copies of a gene. This results in creating new traits that were not previously present in the organism’s genome. This is done to selectively breed desired traits or to create plants with increased resistance to pesticides and increased tolerance to herbicides. For example insulin is a protein that regulates sugar content in our blood and is produced normally in the pancreas. Genetic engineering is used to produce a form of insulin that is similar to yeast and bacterial cells. This genetically engineered insulin is called

In the early years of computers and computerized technology, computer engineers had to believe that their contribution to the development of computer technology would produce positive impacts on the people that would use it. During the infancy of computer technology, ethical issues concerning computer technology were almost nonexistent because computers back then were not as multifaceted as they are today. However, ethical issues relating to computer technology and cyber technology is undeniable in today’s society. Computer technology plays a crucial role in all aspects of our daily lives. Different forms of computer technology provide unique functionalities that allow people to perform daily activities effectively and efficiently. In

According to Moore Law, the number of transistors on electric devices doubles every two years. Transistors need to be designed smaller and smaller to keep the devices in the same size. However, the size of traditional silicon transistors cannot be reduced infinitely. Today, nanotechnology has become a hopeful way to overcome this problem, which is to build nano-scale transistors to satisfy Moore Law. [1]

Nanotechnology is the development of atoms in a certain object. Nanotechnology has become very popular in the past few years. It is a way to rebuild the systems of life. To make systems move faster than ever before. Nanometer is about 10 times the size of an atom. Each of these has a huge effect on a system. Still there are questions out there that keep people wondering how important nanotechnology is to us. Many wonder how will it affect them and if we should continue this research. I myself wondered about nanotechnology. After researching this topic I have learned new and interesting facts to help me understand the entire concept.