past event

Big Stakes Behind Nano Communication

  Michele Mekel, J.D., M.B.A., M.H.A., Associate Director/Legal Fellow
  Center on Nanotechnology and Society

Nanotechnology continues to experience a number of "firsts." Today, however, these "firsts" are not just limited to the realm of nano research and development. Rather, recent weeks and months have witnessed the unveiling of the first standardized nanotechnology nomenclature from ASTM,¹ the first nano-risk framework (thus far in draft form) from DuPont and Environmental Defense,² and the first nano-risk management and safety certification by CENARIOS.³

These latest "firsts," which are all related to the management of the real and perceived risks associated with nanotechnology, interestingly come at a time when a recent poll has shown that 80% of the American public still knows very little about nano, and, in the words of Yale Professor Dan Kahan, "[t]he U.S. public's perception of nanotechnology is up for grabs."⁴ These firsts and findings set the stage for the public dialogue that was hosted by the Center on Nanotechnology and Society (Nano & Society) on March 21, 2007, at the new University Technology Park at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Part of Nano & Society's Chicago Nano Forum series, the event featured: Patti Glaza, vice president and publisher of Small Times; Dietram Scheufele, Ph.D., professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wisconsin principal investigator of the NSF-funded Center for Nanotechnology in Society; and Jo Mackiewicz, Ph.D., assistant professor at IIT.

The program, entitled Risky Business? Risk Perception & Nano Business, commenced with a welcome by David Baker, executive director of the University Technology Park at IIT and opening remarks by Nano & Society's director Nigel Cameron. The panel, moderated by Nano & Society associate director Michele Mekel, then got underway with a presentation by Glaza, who noted that all technologies come with costs and benefits, and who outlined nanotechnology's areas of risk classifications as worker safety, environment, and consumer. "The stakes are high," she stressed. "They include technical leadership, commercial growth, and human lives. And, therefore, it is critical that those in the industry proactively participate in the debate."

Following Glaza's comments, Scheufele, a mass communication and journalism expert, provided key insights into how people form attitudes about complex issues, including those related to new technologies, about which they know or understand very little. "Rather than basing decisions on in-depth knowledge or understanding," he explained "people often substitute heuristics, ideologies, and values." Furthermore, Scheufele shared that "'framing,' or the mode in which the issue or technology is presented, plays a critical role in shaping public attitudes," and that, once a certain way of framing is in place, it is difficult to dislodge and impossible to completely eradicate. Scheufele called attention to, the fact that it is these attitudes that then become ensconced in public policies governing emerging technologies and the issues they raise.

Addressing a related type of "framing," Mackiewicz, a technical communications specialist, detailed how nanotechnology images, which are becoming increasingly pervasive, shape public perception through the nuanced ways in which they represent the technology. Using "visual grammar," she parsed a number of surreal nano images circulating within the public domain - considering perspective, object placement, color, and context. She concluded by emphasizing that these tools for deconstructing images, such as the "hyper-real" images of futuristic nanobots, can raise awareness of the messages that their creators are trying to convey about emerging nanotechnologies and aid us in considering the role that such technologies can and should play.

Following the panelist presentations, Cameron offered final remarks, pulling together the various strands of the discussion contributed by the speakers. "The purpose of Nano & Society's Chicago Nano Forum series is to explore the question of framing the nano discussion," he said. "These public dialogues provide a broader, more robust, and more balanced framing of the issues than those narrow frames offered by those with an interest vested in just one side of the debate."

A webcast of the event is available on the Nano & Society website - www.nano-and-society.org.

Michele Mekel, J.D., M.B.A., M.H.A., is associate director/legal fellow of the Center on Nanotechnology and Society, and executive director/legal fellow of the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future.

¹ ASTM, Subcommittee E56.01, Standard Terminology Relating to Nanotechnology, available at http://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/DATABASE.CART/REDLINE_PAGES/E2456.htm?E+mystore.
² See Environmental Defense - DuPont Nano Risk Framework (draft Feb. 2007), available at http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/5989_Nano%20Risk%20Framework-final%20draft-26feb07-pdf.
³ See CENARIOS ­ Managing Nano Risks, available at http://www.innovationsgesellschaft.ch/images/publikationen/Factsheet_CENARIOS_english_arial2.pdf.
⁴ Nanowerk News, Survey Finds Emotional Reactions to Nanotechnology, available at http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=1579.php.