Brits ignorant of Nanotechnology

LONDON: Most Britons have never heard of Nanotechnology and have no idea what it is, according to a survey released.

But the majority of the 29 per cent of people questioned in the poll who were aware of it think the ultra-small scale technology will have a beneficial effect in the future.

The survey was carried out by the Royal Society, an academy of leading scientists and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

"Nanotechnology involves studying and working with matter at an ultra-small scale, and a nanometer is just one-millionth of a millimeter in length. It is not really a shock to discover that most people have not heard about nanotechnology, because it is still a relatively young field," said Professor Nick Pidgeon, a member of a scientific working group on nanotechnology.

Only 19 per cent of the 1,005 adults in Britain who participated in the poll were able to give some sort of definition of nanotechnology. Sixty-nine percent of people who had an idea of what it was said it would make things better in the future.

Nanotechnology has fascinated scientists with its possibilities to develop minuscule computers and tiny medical devices. But it has also inspired fears about the dangers of nanoparticles and a fictional account of a plague of self-replicating robots turning the world into gray goo.

Two workshops conducted with the public to explore their views about the technology revealed that people reacted both positively and negatively when it was explained to them.

People thought it would be useful in medicine for early diagnosis and treatment but had concerns about its reliability and long-term potential side effects.

Participants in the workshops were strongly in favor of attempts to control and regulate nanotechnology and suggested various bodies that could be potential regulators.

© Reuters