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The issues of nanotechnology and ethics were first explored during the Third Session of COMEST in Rio de Janeiro, December 2003. Presentations have been made during one the sessions (see Proceedings of the Third Session of COMEST). The paper of the invited speaker, Dr. Bert Gordijn, analyses specifically the ethics issues raised by nanotechnology (“Nanoethics”).
In 2005 a group of experts has been established in order to assist COMEST to draft a potential policy document in regard to ethics and nanotechnology. The group included Mrs Kyunghee Choi (South Korea), Mr Abdallah Daar (Canada), Mr Donald Evans (New Zealand and member of IBC), Mr Jun Fudano (Japan, also member of COMEST), Mr Bert Gordijn (the Netherlands), Mrs Michèle Jean (Canada, and former chair of the International Bioethics Committee), Mr Jixing Liu (China), Mr Joachim Schummer (Germany), Mr Peter Singer (Canada), Mrs Margaret Spangler Andrade (Brazil). The group has met in July and December 2005 in Paris. See the Nanotechnology and Ethics Expert Group's Report of the first meeting (UNESCO Paris, 5-6 July 2005) and Report of the second meeting (UNESCO Paris, 6-7 December 2005).
The group of experts has provided input into the activities of COMEST drafting a policy document on ethics of nanotechnology (see: Overview of activities on nanotechnology and ethics). The experts also have written a chapter for a planned book Nanotechnologies: science, ethics and policy issues. This book will be published in the “Ethics of science and technology” series of UNESCO; it will first be available in English but subsequently translated into the other official languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Chinese). The manuscripts are currently in the editorial phase of the publication process so that the book can be published before the close of 2006.
Recommendations of the expert group have been transmitted to the COMEST Bureau for consideration in its meeting of February 2006. See: COMEST Bureau Meeting, 6-7 February 2006. COMEST will further consider the policy recommendations on nanotechnology and ethics (see: Outline of a Policy Advice on Nanotechnologies and Ethics) in its Ordinary Session in Paris on June 27-28, 2006. The draft document can then be the basis for a consultation process in order to be developed into a set of recommendations for the 34th General Conference.
In order to provide adequate information on the ethics of nanotechnologies, UNESCO published in June 2006 the brochure The Ethics and Politics of Nanotechnology. The text explains what nanotechnology is, it sketches its history and current research, and it clarifies what are the potential ethical, legal and political implications. Another useful publication is “Nanotechnology and the developing world”, coauthored by the Avicenna Prize laureate Abdallah Daar. |
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11-05-2009 (UNESCO) - An important meeting on nanotechnologies and development in the Arab States, which was held from 18 to 19 May 2009, in Doha (Qatar), has provided an opportunity for participants to consider the modalities of implementation of the ethical guidelines and policies which COMEST addressed to UNESCO Member States in 2007.
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