Nano: The Newest Technology

Kavli Science Journalism Workshop June 2009

Are we ready?

For virus-sized machines that construct themselves?
For new materials that may be toxic?
For artificial living things?
For invisible machines with a $2 trillion new market?

Overview

More than 75 percent of the public has heard little or nothing about nanotechnology, yet companies and nations have put nanotechnology number one on their lists of new research spending. There are already 600 products on the market that have used it, with a market of more than $100 billion a year, and analysts predict a market of more than $2 trillion in nano-products is expected in five years. Those on all sides agree that significant risks will come with the use of this technology—and those hazards need to be debated publicly now.

How can journalists cover this fast-moving new technology? How can they separate the value from the hype, the risks from the scare stories?

Nanotechnology is not one technology, but an accumulation of tools and skills that for the first time allow humans to work with materials, tissues and organisms at the atomic level. The result is an all-purpose set of tools—like communication and computing technology over recent decades— that will have a strong impact on virtually all fields. The new administration in Washington is already putting new energy to these issues, and new policies and possibly regulation, will be coming soon.

The Boot Camp will teach the basics of the issues, and consider the underlying science and the overarching political and economic factors involved.

Schedule and Faculty

Monday, June 15
6:00–9:00pm		Welcoming Dinner at The Blue Room, Kendall Square

Tuesday, June 16
9:00–10:45		The world of Nanotechnology and its medical applications Robert Langer MIT Institute Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
11:00–12:45		What is a quantum dot and why is it exciting? Moungi Bawendi Professor, MIT Department of Chemistry
2:00–3:45		Harnessing life's own machinery Angela Belcher Professor, MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering
4:00–5:45		Regulatory gaps and needs for engineered nanomaterials Richard Denison Senior Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund

Wednesday, June 17
9:00–10:45		*Nanotechnology for the Development of Stem Cell Therapeutics, Diagnostics and Drug Delivery Systems* Jeffrey Karp Instructor in Medicine and Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women's Hospital
11:00–12:45		Nanofibers and nano finishes: increasing performance of textile materials Margaret Frey, Associate Professor, Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design at Cornell University's College of Human Ecology
2:30–4:15		Industrial Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Promises and Challenges Terry Medley, Global Director of Corporate Regulatory Affairs, DuPont
4:15-6:00		The coming boom: nanoscience as business Michael Holman, Research Director of Lux Research Inc.

Thursday, June 18
9:00–10:45		News and Nano—what's the coverage like? Andrew Maynard, Chief Science Advisor, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars
11:00–12:45		Nano policy in the new Washington regime Andrew Maynard
2:00–3:45		The sticky ethics of new technologies Arthur Caplan Professor, University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics