AM Slide #1Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
NanoConnection to Society
NANOTECHNOLOGY IN SOCIETY PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS’ MEETINGFEBRUARY 8, 2006 · ARLINGTON, VA · NSF ROOM II-595
Lead Institution: Harvard University
Co-Directors: Richard Freeman (Harvard)Lynne Zucker (UCLA)
In Attendance: Lynne Zucker (UCLA)Sharon Friedman (Lehigh)Vivian Weil (IIT)Mark Wiesner (Rice/Duke)Wei-xian Zhang (Lehigh)
Morning Session: Research & Research Related Activities
AM Slide #2Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Research & Research Related Activities
• Major research foci• Pilot development of NanoEthicsBank• Pilot development of NanoEnvironBank• Patent flow and distribution• Design and validation of NanoIndicator series• NanoConnection.net design• Conclusions
AM Slide #3Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Research & Research Related Activities
• Major research foci• Pilot development of NanoEthicsBank• Pilot development of NanoEnvironBank• Patent flow and distribution• Design and validation of NanoIndicator series• NanoConnection.net design• Conclusions
AM Slide #4Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Intellectual Foci: Research Activities
• Generate quality nano info -> open to all– Pilot NanoEthicsBank: ethical standards; regulations– Pilot NanoEnvironbank: impacts, known now &
predicted– NanoConnection goal: fully google indexed
• Pilot NanoIndicators -> over time, comparative• Validate indicators: predictive ability
– Media & public: Nano risk perception, expectations– Nano labor supply & demand– Nano spillovers: nano to stem cells example
AM Slide #5Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Research & Research Related Activities
• Major research foci
• Pilot development of NanoEthicsBank
• Pilot development of NanoEnvironBank• Patent flow and distribution• Design and validation of NanoIndicator series• NanoConnection.net design• Conclusions
AM Slide #6Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
NanoEthics Bank Intellectual Foci
• Normative materials: Policies & codes– Multidisiciplinarity; responsible practices– NanoIndicators: When, why (triggers), # nano
• Regulatory documents– NanoIndicators: counts, chronology
• Ethics & nano activities tracked & documented– Public forums, ethnographic study - nano enterprises
• Investigative reports of harmful nano effects
AM Slide #7Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
NanoEthicsBank: Expected Value
• Track emerging ethical issues– Flood of materials in last 5 months– Help firms adopt standards of care with public input
• Screen materials, e.g. through formal panel• Identify ethics content, resources, groups
– Facilitate communication across boundaries– Education materials: analysis of ethics in nano
• Public involvement & influence -> success of nano
AM Slide #8Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Research & Research Related Activities
• Research foci• Pilot development of NanoEthicsBank
• Pilot development of NanoEnvironBank
• Patent flow and distribution• Design and validation of NanoIndicator series• NanoConnection.net design• Conclusions
AM Slide #9Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
On-going effort to date:Risk assessment of nanomaterials
fabrication
risk assessment public perception commercialization
Recently published, this methodutilizes less expensive inputmaterials than predecessors;current commercial methods areunknown to the authors
Self assembly of zincselenide quantum dots ina microemulsion
Karanikolos etal.
ZnSe quantumdots
Proprietary process modifiedfrom the reference currently inuse for mass production ~1500ton/year
Production of C60 and C70fullerenes in premixedlaminar benzene-oxygen-argon flame
Howard et al.C60
Currently in use for commercialproduction
Aqueous synthesis andsubsequent thermolysis ofalumoxane
Callender et al.Alumoxanenanoparticles
Currently in use for commercialproduction
Gas-phase chemical-vapor-deposition processknown as the HiPcoprocess
Bronikowski etal.
SWNTs
Currently in use for commercialproduction
Production of nanosizedTiO2 through hydrolysisand calcinations withchemical additives tocontrol particle size
Duyvesten et al.TiO2nanoparticles
Commercial statusDescriptionReferenceNanomaterial
Cumulative Risk Incident Score
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
SWNT
C60
Q-dots
Alum
oxane
Nano-T
iO2
Silico
n Waf
ers
Win
e
Polyet
hylen
e
Compute
r Ass
embly
Petro
leum
Ref
inin
g (Whole
Fac
ility
)
Cu
mu
lati
ve
EW
I S
core
s
CumulativeRisk Score
Pharmaceuticals (Whole Facility)
= 3988
AM Slide #10Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Next Steps
• Risk identification & assessment -> insurance model
• Identify critical industries & uses– Support life cycle assessment (LCA)– Risks in workplace
• Market assessment: potential impact– Selected nanomaterials industries
• Interface: public perception of risk & attitudes– Location of nanomaterials fabrication facilities– Using nanomaterial-derived products
AM Slide #11Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Research & Research Related Activities
• Major research foci• Pilot development of NanoEthicsBank• Pilot development of NanoEnvironBank
• Patent Flow and Distribution• Design and validation of NanoIndicator series• NanoConnection.net design• Conclusions
AM Slide #12Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Nanotech Patent Quality & Scope
• Examiner and applicant inserted prior art cited in nano patents– Linked to “patent quality” in previous research (Sampat 2005)– Hard to identify prior art in nanotech vis-à-vis other fields
(USPTO)– Effects of new nanotechnology patent class (Class 977)
• Nano: more claim changes in prosecution? – Narrower patent scope (via the doctrine of equivalents – Festo)
• Patent-based NanoIndicators – being developed• Also: Georgia Tech Patent Working Group
– Arizona State/Harvard CNS collaboration discussed in pm powerpoint
AM Slide #13Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Research & Research Related Activities
• Major research foci• Pilot development of NanoEthicsBank• Pilot development of NanoEnvironBank• Patent Flow and Distribution
• Design and validation of NanoIndicator series
• NanoConnection.net design• Conclusions
AM Slide #14Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Nano: Media and Public Perception
• Nano-risk: Next figure shows number of articles US&UK
– Oversight issue in minority of articles
• Under 40% new/tighten regulation; under 16% side effects like asbestos
• Second figure shows number of publications on nano
– Commercial representations grow; alternative/futuristic decline
• Societal perceptions of nanotech, 4 surveys (S. Currall)
– Moderate in societal benefits & risks (closest to stem cells out of 43 others including biotech, GMO); more weight on benefits than risks
• sample size over 5K across web and telephone
– When FDA approved, more likely to use medical nano product1. From: “U.S. and U.K. Media Coverage of Nanotechnology’s Environmental and Health Risks,” Sharon M. Friedman and Brenda P. Egolf, December 2005. © Sharon M. Friedman; 2. © Stine Grodal 2006
AM Slide #15Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Number of risk articles in U.S. and U.K. newspapers and wire services every six
months from 2000-2004
02468
101214161820
2000-1 2000-2 2001-1 2001-2 2002-1 2002-2 2003-1 2003-2 2004-1 2004-2
Number
U.S.
U.K.
From: “U.S. and U.K. Media Coverage of Nanotechnology’s Environmental and Health Risks,” Sharon M. Friedman and Brenda P. Egolf, December 2005.© Sharon M. Friedman
AM Slide #16Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Nanoindicators in Text
The graph shows the development in the use of commercial and alternative/futuristic words in nanotechnology related articles in the Top 50 US Newspapers over the last 20 years.
© Stine Grodal 2006, Stanford University
AM Slide #17Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Nano Labor Supply; Nano Spillovers
• Indicator of labor supply of S & E with nano-orientation– “Nano” courses at nano-active (NNIN) universities – next figure– To do: measure of NSF’s affect on pipeline
• Compare offered courses at NNIN institutes vs. schools with less nano-funding
• Nano spillovers to other science areas– Second Figure shows example of spillover: nano & stem cells
• Roughly a fifth of stem cell patents also nanotech patents
• Danger in these analyses– Hype: courses described as “nano”, patents containing nano-
relevant terms, but with varying content– Still on rise of sigmoid curve for recognition of what is “nano”.
AM Slide #18Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Growing use of “nano” by Instructors
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008
Year*
Nu
mb
er o
f C
ou
rses
Number of course descriptions containing “nano” at Institutions with NNIN Facilities
* 2006 refers to 2005-2006 course catalog, etc.; Freeman, Stephan, Chang 2006
NNIN Institutions1. Cornell2. Stanford3. GaTech4. U. Washington5. U. Michigan6. U. Minnesota7. Penn State U.8. UCSB9. U. Texas Austin10. U. New Mexico11. Harvard12. Howard U.13. NCSU
AM Slide #19Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Patents Classified as Both Nanotechnology and Stem Cell as Percent of Total Stem-Cell Patents
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Nanotechnology & Stem-Cell PatentsTotal Stem-Cell Patents
Nanotechnology & Human Embryonic Stem-Cell PatentsTotal Human Embryonic Stem-Cell Patents
Source: Lynne G. Zucker & Michael R. Darby, “Real Effects of Policy Change in Industry Development in Stem Cells,” paper presented at Stem Cells: Promise and Peril in Regenerative Medicine Conference, UCLA, February 4, 2006.
AM Slide #20Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Research & Research Related Activities
• Major research foci• Pilot development of NanoEthicsBank• Pilot development of NanoEnvironBank• Patent flow and distribution• Design and validation of NanoIndicator series
• NanoConnection.net design• Conclusions
AM Slide #21Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
NanoConnection.net
Figure 1. NanoConnection to Stakeholders, Other Centers and the Nano Research Community
NanoConnection.net (pilot site)NanoBank.org, NNIN, Nano-Science and
Other NSECs, NIRTs, Pilot Education and Public Outreach/Information Program Technology ResearchOther Major Research Community, Social Projects and Centers Science Community
Pilot DatabasesNanoEnvironBank NanoIndicators NanoEthicsBank
Studies of NanoIndicator Design and NanoPatent Validation Studies ConcernFlow and IndicatorsDistribution
Students andTeachers
ProfessionalAssociations Finance
Industry and GovernmentAt All Levels
ConcernedPublic
The Media NGOs
AM Slide #22Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Research & Research Related Activities
• Major research foci• Pilot development of NanoEthicsBank• Pilot development of NanoEnvironBank• Patent flow and distribution• Design and validation of NanoIndicator series• NanoConnection.net design
• Conclusions
AM Slide #23Nanotechnology in Society Principal Investigator’s Meeting 2006
Conclusions
• Generate quality nano info -> open to all– Pilot NanoEthicsBank: ethical standards; regulations– Pilot NanoEnvironbank: impacts, known now & predicted– NanoConnection goal: fully google indexed
• Pilot NanoIndicators -> unfolding stability/change in nano• Validate indicators: predictive ability
– Media & public: Amount/change in nano risk perception, use?– Nano labor supply & demand; NSF funding effects?– Nano spillovers: nano to stem cells; other spillovers?
• Danger in analyses– Still on rise of sigmoid curve for recognition of what is “nano”