Nanoethics: Big Ethical Issues With Small Technology

Nanoethics Big Ethical Issues with Small Technology Dónal P. O’Mathúna

Continuum Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 11 York Road London SE1 7NX

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www.continuumbooks.com © Dónal P. O’Mathúna, 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-8470-6394-6 PB: 978-1-8470-6395-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

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For Catrina, Conor and Peter It’s your future

Contents

Preface

ix

Chapter 11: Nanotechnology: In Search of a Definition

1

Chapter 12: Developing Nanotechnology: In the Beginning . . .

14

Chapter 13: Ethics and Nanotechnology: What’s the Story?

31

Chapter 14: Dealing with Risk: Preying on Fear

52

Chapter 15: Precaution: More Forwards Slowly

71

Chapter 16: Global Nanotech: Turning the World Upside Down

87

Chapter 17: Nanomedicine: Honey, I Shrunk the Doctor

102

Chapter 18: Enhancement: Becoming Better than Healthy

128

Chapter 19: The Posthuman Future: Making Room for Human Dignity

158

Chapter 10: Technology and the Future: Revisiting Daedalus and Icarus

187

viii

Contents

Glossary

196

Sources

202

Bibliography

204

Index

229

1

Nanotechnology: In Search of a Definition

Everything around us is composed of atoms. We eat them, breathe them and shape them into tools to accomplish our tasks. We are made from atoms. Each new technological age has been characterized by the types of atoms we human beings could manipulate. The next technological age will be characterized, not by the types of atoms used, but by the scale at which they will be manipulated. This is the essence of nanotechnology. Richard Smalley shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in discovering one of the chemical structures at the centre of the nanotechnology revolution. In 1999, he spoke before a subcommittee hearing of the US Congress: From stone, to copper, to bronze, iron, steel, and now silicon, the major technological ages of humankind have been defined by what these atoms can do in huge aggregates, trillions upon trillions of atoms at a time, molded, shaped, and refined as macroscopic objects. Even . . . the smallest feature is a mountain compared to the size of a single atom. The resultant technology of our 20th century is fantastic, but it pales when compared to what will be possible when we learn to build things at the ultimate level of control, one atom at a time. (Smalley, 1999, quoted in Mansoori, 2005, p. 1)

Definitions of nanotechnology and of nanoscience are not universally agreed upon. The resulting lack of clarity is one factor hindering discussion of nanoethics – the ethical issues with nanotechnology (Schummer, 2007a). Some have argued that the

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‘nano’ label is applied to many conventional areas of research to make projects more attractive to funding agencies. On the commercial end, ‘nano’ has been added to names of products with the most tentative links to nanotechnology. The Nano became the world’s cheapest car when it went on sale in March 2009. Manufactured by Ratan Tata’s company in India, its basic model costs what other manufacturers charge to install a DVD player in their cars (O’Connor, 2008). In the native language of Mr Tata’s mother, the word ‘nano’ means ‘small’ (Chang, 2008). The term ‘nano’ comes from the Greek word for dwarf, and in science refers to a part that is one billionth of something (Mansoori, 2005, p. 3). One nanometre (nm) is one billionth of a metre, or 1 x 10⫺9 metre. Human hairs, with a diameter of about 80,000 nm, or red blood cells, about 7,000 nm in diameter, are much larger than nanoscale objects (Royal Society, 2004, p. 4). Bacteria are larger than nanoscale, falling into the microscale (one millionth of a metre). Individual atoms are smaller, for example, hydrogen atoms are about 0.1 nm wide. If a 1-nanometre particle was magnified to the size of a football, the same magnification would make a football the size of the Earth (ibid.). Chemists have traditionally studied and made molecules which are smaller than nanoscale, molecules like aspirin, penicillin and many other pharmaceuticals. Biochemists study the molecules in living organisms, molecules such as proteins and DNA, life’s genetic molecule. Objects that fall into the nanoscale include: strands of DNA (about 2 nm wide); proteins (5 to 50 nm); viruses (about 75 to 100 nm); and a range of new nanomaterials called quantum dots (10 to 100 nm), carbon nanotubes (1.4 nm wide), buckyballs (0.7 nm in diameter) and various nanoparticles such as dendrimers, silica beads, paramagnetic labels and so on (ibid.). These will be discussed in the next chapter, as will the development of methods and instruments to study them. Some nanomaterials are already appearing in commercial products, although their potential applications are only just beginning to be realized.

Nanotechnology: In Search of a Definition

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The US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), one of the largest funders of nanotechnology research in the world, uses the following definition: Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions between approximately 1 and 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications. Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering, and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at this length scale. (NNI, 2008b, p. 3)

Not everyone uses the same range, with some definitions including objects with dimensions of 1 to 1000 nm (Ozin et al., 2009, p. 12). Rather than the precise size of the particles, what is more significant is that particles in the nanoscale range have different properties and functions to those in smaller and larger ranges. Smaller particles are dominated by quantum effects, whereas larger particles are dominated by their bulk properties. The nanoscale range is that in which a unique combination of quantum and macroscale effects converge to give nanoparticles their unique and interesting properties. Another distinctive feature is how nanoparticles interact with cells and living tissues. Small molecules enter cells by passive diffusion depending on their solubility and concentration. Cells grow on or around large structures. In between, nanoparticles interact with similarly sized biomolecules such as proteins to become coated nanoparticles (Lynch and Dawson, 2008). This provides protein-coated nanoparticles with access to active transport systems into cells that open intriguing possibilities for nanoparticles ‘permeating the impermeable’ (Ozin et al., 2009, p. 571). While this may allow drugs to be directed to exactly where they are needed, it also raises questions about toxicity if nanoparticles go where they shouldn’t go. Sometimes a distinction is made between nanotechnology and nanoscience. For example, the UK Royal Society stated:

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Nanoscience is the study of phenomena and manipulation of materials at atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales, where properties differ significantly from those at a larger scale. Nanotechnologies are the design, characterisation, production and application of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at nanometre scale. (Royal Society, 2004, p. 5)

Part of the complexity of nanotechnology derives from the variety of tools and techniques used and the range of applications involved. Because of this, some use the term ‘nanotechnologies’ (ibid.; ten Have, 2007), but we will use the term ‘nanotechnology’ as it is more widely recognized.

WHY NANOTECHNOLOGY? Every material has macroscale or bulk properties we value, ones we can see and experience like strength, weight, colour, conductivity, etc. Steel is strong, but has limitations. It makes cars and aeroplanes stronger, but also heavier and less fuel-efficient. Fibreglass car bodies are beneficial at the fuel station, but detrimental in a head-on collision. Electronic devices from phones to laptops give great portability, but battery life must be balanced against size and weight. ‘Materials science’ is a field of engineering and applied science which studies the relationship between a material’s bulk properties and its underlying atomic and molecular structures. Materials science has led to many developments in metallurgy, ceramics, plastics and semiconductors, and is now playing a central role in nanotechnology. Nanotechnology could lead to new products with new properties: stronger and lighter materials, faster and smaller electronic devices, cleaner and more efficient manufacturing processes, drugs that go to precisely where they are needed and better

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diagnostic devices. One website examining nanotechnology’s ethics put it this way: The significance of this breakthrough, if it becomes a reality, can’t be overstated: because everything is made up of atoms, and nanotech plays with those basic building-blocks, it could in theory create or improve anything. (NanoEthics Group, 2003–2008)

Imagine a material stronger than steel, but as wearable as cotton. Imagine a family car that goes thousands of miles without refuelling or polluting the environment. Imagine a box in every house, similar to a microwave, which could be programmed to make whatever was needed. Fans of Star Trek may be reminded of the ‘food slots’ or ‘replicators’ which allowed food to be made by arranging atoms and molecules into precise patterns. Similar devices called ‘matter compilers’ make almost everything needed for the characters in The Diamond Age, one of the first novels focused on a society radically changed by nanotechnology (Stephenson, 1995). Such devices are also proposed in serious non-fiction scientific treatises (Drexler, 1986/2006). Space travel provided the incentive for many recent developments in materials science. One challenge was to build stronger, but lighter space-craft; computers needed to store and process more information, but be smaller in size and faster; space-suits needed to be completely sealed, but more flexible and less cumbersome. Active imaginations are frequently found around nanotechnology. Claims from both eminent scientists and science fiction authors that we are learning to build things atom-by-atom have led to much speculation about our future with nanotechnology. Will we be able to imagine the properties we want, figure out the nanoscale structures they require, and build the items? Immediately attractive would be drugs to cure all our illnesses, ways to produce all the food and water everyone needs, reliable methods to clean up the environment and economical means of

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building sturdy housing. Then we could work on cheap computers for everyone, unlimited travel or artificial organs to replace the originals when they fail. Maybe after that will come space travel for the masses, enhancements to improve people’s bodies and minds and eventually a cure for ageing and death. If all this is possible, the ethical questions will remain, even as they do in the world of The Diamond Age. Now nanotechnology had made nearly anything possible, and so the cultural role in deciding what should be done with it had become far more important than imaging what could be done with it. (Stephenson, 1995, p. 37)

CHARACTERISTICS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY Nanotechnology is characterized by the many different fields of study it brings together. Until recently, the natural sciences had been divided up into physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, materials science and information technology, among others. Each focused on different aspects of the natural world, and each tended to function independently and to conduct research in separate university departments. Nanotechnology has developed around questions and issues where these fields overlap. It is one of what are being called Converging Technologies. These are often referred to by the acronym NBIC: nano-bio-info-cogno, or nanotechnology, biotechnology and genetic engineering, information technology and computing, and cognitive science. A report commissioned by the US National Science Foundation concluded that coordinated developments in all these fields ‘could achieve an age of innovation and prosperity that would be a turning point in the evolution of human society’ (Roco and Bainbridge, 2003, p. x). Such is the scale of expectation. Nanotechnology means working with substances at close to the atomic scale. The atoms that make up a material are key to

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its properties. Whether something contains atoms of carbon or atoms of iron makes all the difference. Chemistry studies how atoms combine to form molecules and the bulk properties of those products. Developments in nanotechnology have much to do with how atoms and molecules arrange themselves into structures just above the atomic scale. For example, diamond is made from carbon atoms. The atoms arrange themselves into a dense structure that gives diamond its very hard and translucent properties. Carbon atoms can also arrange themselves into thin sheets with very different properties. This form of carbon, graphite, is dark and brittle, a useful lubricant that also conducts electricity. In 1985, a completely different form of carbon was discovered called buckyballs. Understanding the structure and properties of buckyballs, and related objects called carbon nanotubes and graphene, is a significant area of research within nanotechnology. We will return to look at these in more detail, but already they are leading to new products and applications.

NANOPRODUCTS Rarely does the development of a new technology attract the level of interest that nanotechnology has garnered. Some of the interest stems from fascination with humanity’s ability to manipulate matter at such a small scale. But much more of the interest stems from very practical developments and expectations. Nanoparticles are interesting and useful, partly because they have fundamentally different properties compared to larger particles of the same substance. For example, large particles of aluminium are so nonreactive that they are used to make beverage cans we drink from safely. Yet nanoparticles of aluminium are extremely reactive – explosively so. Scientists are interested in them as an alternative fuel since they produce none of the pollutants of fossil fuels (Kleiner, 2005).

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Nanotechnology has already led to a host of new products with improved, important and intriguing properties. Some are of more questionable benefit. Nanogum is a chewing gum reported to contain nanoparticles of platinum (katalist, 2008). Regular chewing of this gum is alleged to prevent ageing, a claim which is extremely doubtful (Olshansky et al., 2002a). Forbes magazine reported that nanotechnology had allowed confectioners to overcome one of their oldest problems: how to produce chocolateflavoured chewing gum (Wolfe, 2006). The magazine claimed that nanotechnology overcame the incompatibility of chocolate’s cocoa butter with the chewing gum base. The manufacturer later denied that nanotechnology was used in this particular product, but did note that it was using nanotechnology in a number of other confectionery products under development (ElAmin, 2006). In April 2008, the US-based Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) estimated that three or four new nanotechnology products were appearing on the market every week. Over the previous two years, the total number of products had increased from 212 to 609. Between 2007 and 2008, the number of products available doubled, and this rate of increase is expected to continue (Erickson, B. E., 2008). At the beginning of 2009 the total had increased to over 800 consumer products. The one which did most to bring nanotechnology to public attention was Apple’s iPod Nano. Its small size and large storage capacity are made possible by the production and precise positioning of electronic components in the nanoscale range. The amazing developments in electronics are governed by Moore’s Law. This isn’t really a law, but a trend first observed in 1965 by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel. It predicts that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit will increased exponentially, doubling every 18 months or so (Roco and Bainbridge, 2003). It has accurately tracked many measures of computing power, and helps drive the search for smaller electronic components. Nanotechnology is expected to push electronics and personal digital devices to their next level

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of miniaturization. Researchers in Scotland announced that their techniques could increase the storage capacity of an iPod from about 3.3 to 500,000 gigabytes per square inch (Anonymous, 2008). These developments are made possible by breakthrough technology that allows chemical groups to be placed precisely 0.32 nm apart in a nanodevice. Shortly after the release of the first iPod Nanos, Apple was hit with a class action suit alleging that the products were highly prone to scratching, making their screens illegible (UPI, 2005). Nanotechnology promises to provide better scratch-resistant coatings, with numerous other coatings already using various nanoparticles. Glass impregnated with nanoparticles is marketed for ‘self-cleaning’ windows. The nanoparticles become energized by ultraviolet rays which break down any organic dirt. The nanoparticles are also water repellent, so that when rain hits the window it spreads across the glass, washing off evenly rather than pooling in droplets and streaking. Elsewhere, silver nanoparticles have been put into bandages and healthcare clothing because of their antimicrobial properties. Nanoparticle coatings have also been put on clothes to make them stain resistant. Researchers have announced a way to use the motion and friction generated by walking to produce small amounts of electricity in people’s clothes (Qin et al., 2008). The researchers wove nanoengineered fibres called nanowires around textile fabrics to produce fabric that converts wasted mechanical energy into electricity. With further improvements, they predict that sufficient energy will be produced to enable everyone from hikers to soldiers to power personal electronic devices. As portable electronic devices become more prevalent, their usefulness can be limited by the weight and longevity of the battery. Nanotechnology is being used to improve the performance of all sizes of rechargeable batteries. One of the first applications of carbon nanotubes has been to improve the longevity of car lead batteries. Conventional lithium rechargeable batteries wear out when put through multiple charging and recharging

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cycles. Nanoparticles are being used to make batteries that can be recharged many more times (Anonymous, 2006). Car bodies are being reinforced with stronger, lighter nanocomposite materials. Some sunscreens now contain nanoparticles of titanium dioxide to give clear products rather than ones that are white when spread on the skin. The applications of nanotechnology appear endless. Some of these will be described throughout the book, especially medical applications. Little wonder that nanotechnology has generated great excitement, leading to significant investment by governments, universities and private firms. The US government became the early leader when President Clinton unveiled the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) in 2000 with a $270 million investment (Lane and Kalil, 2005). President Bush continued this investment in 2003 with the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (Allen, 2005). The 2009 budget for nanotechnology reached $1.5 billion, bringing the cumulative investment since the NNI began to almost $10 billion (NNI, 2008b). This represents the largest federally funded, interagency scientific research initiative since the space programme of the 1960s. Many other governments are following suit. In 2004, the total public and private expenditure on nanotechnology was about $3 billion in the US, $3 billion in the EU, $2.3 billion in Japan and $1.9 billion in the rest of the world (Bhushan, 2006). Nanotechnology has become a focal point of competition between nations and continents. The European Commission (EC) views nanotechnology as providing ‘important potential for boosting quality of life and industrial competitiveness in Europe’ (European Commission, 2007a, p. 2). Between 2002 and 2006, the EC funding for nanotechnology totalled €1.4 billion, which was one third of the European public funding for nanotechnology; this is expected to almost triple between 2007 and 2013 (ibid.). This makes Europe the largest public investor in nanotechnology, although it lags behind the US and Japan in private investment (ibid.).

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International forecasts suggest the global market for nanotechnology-based products will grow to about $1 trillion in 2015 (National Science Foundation, 2001). This figure is debated, ranging from estimates of $3 trillion to smaller figures quoted by those who claim the larger figure includes products for which nanotechnology makes only peripheral contributions (Nanowerk, 2007). Regardless, while nanotechnology deals with the very small, the stakes are very large.

NANOETHICS Pursuit of the latest innovative technology is always encouraged with excitement. But innovation includes the perils of unknown risks. As with previous eras of human discovery, the excitement of going where humans have never gone before is taking precedence. But should it? The ethical questions surrounding nanotechnology are several and are only starting to be addressed. Nanoethics is a new field, looking at issues of right and wrong in the development and application of nanotechnology (Lin and Allhoff, 2007). Nanotechnology is widely acknowledged as raising ethical, legal, social and environmental issues. While much funding is available for scientific research and development, little has been available to examine the health and environmental risks or the ethical concerns. A survey of several journal databases found that, while the number of citations for scientific articles on nanotechnology grew almost exponentially between 1985 and 2001, citations on its social and ethical implications stayed flat and close to zero (Mnyusiwalla et al., 2003). All sides of nanotechnology need to be examined. If not, many of the potential benefits may be lost because of suspicion or fear of what nanotechnology might involve. Part of the reason why the ethics of nanotechnology have not been scrutinized is that nanotechnology has not captured public

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attention. Ironically, while governments are striving to make their countries and institutions world leaders in nanotechnology, their citizens, who ultimately fund much of the research through taxes and will be expected to purchase the products, are often unaware of the technologies. Several studies have found that the public is largely unaware of nanotechnology (Currall, 2009). Even with about $50 billion in consumer products on the market, 49 percent of Americans polled in 2008 stated they had never heard of nanotechnology (Hart, 2008). The proportion who had ‘heard a lot’ about nanotechnology was 7 percent in 2008, 6 percent in 2007 and 10 percent in 2006 (Hart, 2007). Those who know little about nanotechnology tend to view it relatively positively (Scheufele et al., 2007). However, once nanotechnology was explained, consumers tended to become more concerned about its risks than its benefits (Hart, 2008). Some have suggested that the lack of public awareness is good news as it avoids public concern about the new products (Anonymous, 2009). However, fears based on inaccurate information could also damage beneficial developments.

NANOFICTION This general lack of awareness could be overcome by the use of literature, and particularly the genre of science fiction. Already, nanotechnology has appeared in Star Trek, with its on-going conflict with the nanotechnology-enabled Borg, and in other TV series like X-Files, Battlestar Galactica and Star Gate. It has been used in films like I, Robot (2004), DOA: Dead or Alive (2006) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). Probably the bestknown work of fiction on the subject has not yet made it to the big screen: Michael Crichton’s Prey (2002) raises the prospect of nanotechnology run amuck, leading to death and mayhem. The novel has become a metaphor for the potential dangers of nanotechnology, and has led to criticism of how nanotechnology is portrayed in science fiction.

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Science fiction often enters discussions of nanotechnology, especially when people fear the vision has run away from reality. If we put new drugs in people, and then little nanodevices, where will it stop? Where should it stop? Does the vision for cheap portable electronic devices have anything to do with transporting people around the solar system? Nanotechnology has been plagued with hype regarding its potential benefits and agents of doom suggesting its potential risks (Berube, 2006). Yet science fiction has sometimes described scientific devices that have later been developed, or predicted catastrophes that have materialized (Brake and Hook, 2008). But the flow has not been one way. We will see that nanotechnologists sometimes use fictional accounts to explain their vision – and why they should be funded to try to get there. Some of the devices and scenarios found in science fiction have influenced nanotechnologists and even the design of actual nanotechnology (Berne, 2006). Given that science fiction engages with nanotechnology, we will explore its potential to encourage careful reflection about nanotechnology and nanoethics in particular. Within the broad field of ethics, narrative and literature are well respected (Booth, 1989; Charon, 2006; Kearney, 2002). Throughout the book, therefore, literature and film will be included in how we examine various ethical issues (Shapshay, 2009a). The specific benefits and limitations of using fiction this way will be considered in a later chapter. Before doing so, we will look at the history of nanotechnology and some of the important subdivisions within the field. Foremost among these are two very different visions for nanotechnology and its potential impact. These two visions must be kept in mind as they raise very different ethical issues.