The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) has announced the charter members of a new Task Force to develop comprehensive policy recommendations for safe and responsible use of molecular manufacturing.

“Progress toward developing the technical requirements for desktop molecular manufacturing is moving faster than it was when we founded CRN two years ago,” said Mike Treder, Executive Director of CRN.

“The recent announcement of a Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems, to be organized by the Battelle research organization and the Foresight Nanotech Institute, has highlighted the urgent need for parallel policy discussions at the highest levels.

“All of our research to date shows that molecular manufacturing will have a transformative impact on our society, industry, the environment, and geopolitics. Without adequate preparation and study, the effects could be dangerously disruptive.”

Charter members of the Task Force include inventor Ray Kurzweil; Nick Bostrom, Director, Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University; David Brin, Author, The Transparent Society; and Jerome C. Glenn, Director, Millennium Project, American Council for the United Nations University.