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"Public trust is the 'dark horse' in nanotechnology's future," statesRejeski in his testimony. "If government and industry do not work to buildpublic confidence in nanotechnology, consumers may reach for the 'No-Nano'label in the future and investors will put their money elsewhere. Publicperceptions about risks -- real and perceived -- can have large economicimpacts. For example, the European Union's ban on genetically modified foods,driven largely by public concerns, cost American farmers an estimated $300million annually in lost sales and much more in products that never made it tothe marketplace."
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Congressional lawmakers are currently discussing amendments to andreauthorization of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research & Development Act,which helps sets the roadmap for the annual $1.5 billion federal spending onnanotechnology research that is vital to ensuring the technology's success.
About Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the ability to measure, see, manipulate and manufacturethings usually between 1 and 100 nanometers. A nanometer is one billionth of ameter; a human hair is roughly 100,000 nanometers wide. By 2014, Lux Researchprojects that $2.6 trillion in global manufactured goods will incorporatenanotechnology, or about 15 percent of total global output.
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (www.nanotechproject.org) is aninitiative launched by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholarsand The Pew Charitable Trusts in 2005. It is dedicated to helping business,government and the public anticipate and manage possible health andenvironmental implications of nanotechnology.What: Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Innovation hearing "National Nanotechnology Initiative: Charting the Course for Reauthorization" When: April 24, 2008, 2:30 p.m. Where: Russell Senate Office Building Room 253, Washington, DC Who: David Rejeski directs the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. For the past eight years, he has also been the Director of the Foresight and Governance Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center. He has held various positions at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He sits on the advisory boards of a number of organizations, including EPA's Science Advisory Board. He has graduate degrees in public administration and environmental design from Harvard and Yale.
SOURCE The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
