The government today launched an independent study into the benefits and risks of nanotechnology, the science of manipulating ultra-small particles.
The Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering have been commissioned to look at this emerging area of science, engineering and technology to see how it should be regulated as it develops.
While scientists are excited about the possibilities of eradicating illness, nano-devices that interact with the human body, "smart" materials for aircraft, vehicles and buildings, and new ways of combating pollution, fears have been raised - notably by Prince Charles - about the potential for nano-terrorism or tiny robots self replicating and getting out of control and turning the planet to "grey goo".
Nanotechnology involves working with matter on an ultra-small scale. One nanometre is one-millionth of a millimetre and a single human hair is around 80,000 nanometres in width. The technology stretches across the whole spectrum of science, touching medicine, physics, engineering and chemistry, and so is difficult to pin down to one discrete area. Scientists, for example, are currently investigating whether nanoscale carbon could be used to increase the power and speed of computer circuits.
Science minister Lord Sainsbury said the study, to be led by Ann Dowling, professor of mechanical engineering at Cambridge University, was not being mounted in response to Prince Charles's comments, but because it was important to look at the potential risks and benefits of the new technology.
Professor Dowling said: "Some unease about nanotechnology was expressed earlier this year with suggestions that plagues of self-replicating nano-bots could turn the world into 'grey goo'. A key role of the project will be to separate the hype and hypothetical from the reality. The working group will determine where research is now, where it might be in 10 or 20 years time, and where it could be further into the future."
She said she wanted the views ands worries of the whole of society to be addressed in her report.
The study will identify the environmental, health and safety, ethical and societal implications, and uncertainties that may arise from the use of the technology, both at present and in the future. It will also identify areas where additional regulation needs to be considered. It has been commissioned by the government's office of science and technology (OST).
Professor Dowling, who has held visiting posts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology in the US, and worked for the Ministry of Defence, added: "In the 1980s a microscope that could see on the atomic scale was invented and nanoscience started to capture the imagination. A decade later scientists at IBM spelled out their company's name using an arrangement of atoms. Now at the beginning of the 21st century, some forecasters of the future are telling us that nanotechnology could bring us tremendous medical benefits, while others are claiming that it could run amok and devastate our world. Before nanotechnology grows up we - society - need to determine where exactly we are with this technology, what we want from it and what safeguards need to be in place.
"I want the views and worries of the whole of society to be addressed in our final report, so I am calling on stakeholders from academia, industry and lobby groups, as well as the general public, to contact us and tell us what their concerns are and what they would like us to address."