At
first blush, nanotechnology (defined as working with
things at the scale of a billionth of a meter - a
nanometer) might seem little different from the work
that semiconductor manufacturers routinely do today
to make the chips that put incredible computing power
on our desks and into our pockets. Indeed, today's
semiconductor chips are incredibly complex and their
internal components are already nanotech-tiny; some
structures are just four to six nanometers -- a
The European Group on Ethics in Science and New
Technologies ( EGE ) for
2005-2009 held its first meeting on 25 October 2005. The renewed mandate
of the group now extends to all areas of application
of science and technology and it will issue
opinion either at the request of the Commission
or on its own initiative.
In its nanotech action
plan 2005-2009 the Commission said it would
ask the EGE to carry out an ethical analysis of
nanomedicine to enable appropriate future
ethical reviews of proposed European nanotechnology
R&D projects. "EGE's first full opinion
will be on the nanomedicine," told the Head
of the EGE Secretariat, Michael D. Rogers. "The
group has already issued an opinion on
stem cell research but regarding the current concerns
on the issue, the group might be asked to draft
a new opinion," he added.
The previous EGE (2000-2005) issued five
full opinions and a number of shorter reports. The
issue covered include genetic testing in the workplace,
stem cell research and stem cell biobanks, ICT implants
in human body and clinical research in developing
countries.
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