ETHICS WHAT CAN NANO LEARN FROM BIO

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ETHICS- WHAT CAN NANO LEARN FROM BIO?

• Peter Sandøe, Jesper Lassen Mickey Gjerris
• Danish Centre for Bioethics and Risk Assessment
• Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University
• www.bioethics.kvl.dk

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AIM OF THIS TALK

• Many reports point to the need of bringing
  ethical concerns to bear on the development of
  nanotechnology already in the research phase
• Often a comparison is made with the development
  of modern biotechnology in the area of food and
  agriculture
• But the question is What can nano learn from
  bio?
• To answer this question is the aim of this talk

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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY BIO?

• Biotechnology understood as the use of biological
  organisms to produce products and services is old
  and well established
• Even gene technology is well established and
  hardly controversial in some areas, e.g. the
  production of medicines and enzymes
• However, when we here talk about bio we mainly
  refer to the use of gene technology in
  agriculture and food production

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NANO AND BIO - WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON?

• Emerging technology
• Science based
• Strongly supported by public funding
• A lot of hype
• Few products on the market
• Potential for scare stories (Frankenfood / Grey
  goo)

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THE ROLE OF SCARE STORIES

• They may affect sensitive people (like Prince
  Charles)
• But they may also prevent those who are in favour
  of the technology in question from taking their
  critics seriously
• Rather than seeing the stories as a sign of real
  problems they may be used to claim the
  irrationality of the critics

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WHAT NANO CAN LEARN FROM BIO (1)- BE AWARE OF
THE RISK WINDOW

• From the outset biotechnology was regulated on
  the basis of assessments of risks to human health
  and the environment
• However, controversies have so far led to a
  greater awareness of potential hazards
• In EU regulation of biotechnology there has been
  a growing awareness of the risk window
• Also there has been an increased awareness of
  scientific uncertainty

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NANO AND BIO MAY HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN SOME
PEOPLE THINK
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WHAT NANO CAN LEARN FROM BIO (2) - BE AWARE OF
DIFFERENCES IN RISK PERCEPTION

• Often it is assumed by experts that lay peoples
  view on risks from new technology is just a
  distortion
• However, the lay view may reflect a focus on deep
  uncertainties (the unknown unknowns)
• And it may reflect a different conceptualisation
  of risk

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EXPERT AND LAY VIEWS OF RISKS

• Experts in risks to human health or the
  environment will typically view a risk as a
  one-dimensional affair
• Risk effect probability
• For lay persons risks have several dimensions
• uncertainty
• dread
• catastrophic potential
• controllability
• fairness

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WHAT NANO CAN LEARN FROM BIO (3)- CONSIDER
SERIOUSLY WHAT IT IS GOOD FOR

• Part of the explanation of why food biotechnology
  was so badly received by the public is that
  ordinary people could not see what was in it for
  them
• Those who developed the technology either took
  the benefits for granted or focused on benefits
  for others than the end consumer
• In discussions about benefit it is important to
  avoid hype

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HYPE
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HYPE
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WHAT NANO CAN LEARN FROM BIO (4)- BE OPEN TO
OTHER MORAL ISSUES

• One of the results of studies of biotechnology
  and the public was that the public put great
  emphasis on moral issues besides risk and benefit
• These include
• Justice
• Democracy
• Respect for nature

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WHAT NANO CAN LEARN FROM BIO (5)- TRUST MATTERS

• One of the issues that has emerged following the
  controversies about food biotech is a problem of
  trust
• This problem seems to be generated by several
  factors
• Growing involvement of science with commercial
  interests
• Patenting
• Growing gap between science and society
• Nano cannot avoid the problem completely

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LACK OF TRUST IN SCIENCE
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WHAT NANO CAN LEARN FROM BIO (6)- THE MAIN
MESSAGE

• In the development of nanotechnology it is
  important not to take for granted what are the
  concerns and hopes of those who one way or the
  other are going to pay for it
• Rather it is important to have an open eye
  towards other isssues than health and environment
• This may require research by social scientists
  and philosophers
• And a willingnes to engage in an
  interdisciplinary effort