Scientists say the applications of nanotechnology include tiny machines that could travel throughout the body, destroying viruses or cancer cells. But Canadian bioethicists are calling for more research into the implications of the new field, before opponents derail it.

Nanotechnology combines biology, physics and engineering to manipulate atoms and molecules on a microscopic scale. Engineers work in the scale of a nanometre – one billionth of a metre.

The field is relatively early in its development. Some of the work seems hard to believe:

• special materials many times stronger than steel for use in medical and other applications
• a biomolecular motor developed at Cornell has tiny propellers of nickel fuelled by an energy enzyme

Peter Singer is a physician and director of the University of Toronto's Joint Centre for Bioethics. He calls nanotechnology the third huge scientific wave of the last half century, following information technology and genomics.

A computer model of a channel built with carbon nanotubes, less than 100 atoms in diameter

• FROM SEPT. 9, 2002: Companies model smaller, smarter high-tech gadgets

Last year alone, the U.S. government spent $2 billion on research and development of nanotechnology. But Singer said very little of that was spent on reflecting on how society wants the field to progress, if at all.

"While the science is barrelling forward, the ethics is really flatlining," said Singer. "That puts these two on a collision course, and risks the sort of showdown we saw in genetically modified crops."

Open debate should tackle thorny issues

In a paper published in the Feb. 17 issue of British scientific journal Nanotechnology, Singer calls for governments to spend more on the thorny issues, including:

• how nanotech might be used to create or gather secret information
• the medical ethics of incorporating nanomachines into human beings
• the effect new nanomaterials might have on the environment

Singer said he wants the research to be done to prevent the field from being derailed by those with public concerns. Some fear nanotech will bring corporate control of living systems, and global experiments gone awry.

"Here's an industry which is growing extremely rapidly, which is enormous in its impact on society, on employment, on safety, on health and the environment – good or bad – that's going undiscussed," said Pat Mooney, executive director of the Winnipeg-based citizens group ETC.

What's safe?

Mooney said nanomaterials have already been added to consumer products such as clear sunscreens and tennis racquets, without what he considers public scrutiny.

ETC has called for a moratorium on nanotech research and development until governments establish rules about its application.

• FROM MARCH 11, 2002: 'Smart' nanotubes first step to tiny machines

"To allow this research to continue and people be exposed to the materials without any kind of agreement on what's safe and what isn't, is simply silly," said Mooney.

Both sides say they want a reasoned, open debate fostered by greater academic research and spending on ethics.