Molecular Manufacturing: Start Planning

August 20, 2003 | Source: FAS Public Interest Report

“There is very little doubt that molecular nanotechnology manufacturing will be developed within the next three decades,” says Chris Phoenix, Director of Research for the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, and it may be as soon as ten years because of the immense utility and the increasing ease of development.

But there are risks: an unstable arms race, criminal and terrorist activity, invasion of privacy from microscopic devices, gray goo, economic disruption, and a black market in nanofactories.

So it’s likely some sort of international administration will be necessary to control it. Preparation for molecular nanotechnology should become a current topic in high-level policy and planning, he concludes.