For Immediate Release: November 20, 2002

San Francisco, CA — Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the level of individual atoms and molecules, offers the greatest benefits for society if left to grow through modest regulation, civilian research, and an emphasis on self-regulation and responsible professional culture, according to Forward to the Future: Nanotechnology and Regulatory Policy, a new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI).

“Nanotechnology holds much promise, but it has come under suspicion in some quarters because of the revolutionary changes it can bring,” said Sonia Arrison, director of PRI’s Center for Technology Studies.

“It is such an exciting area of research that the time has come to make a principled argument against misguided regulation that would stymie its growth,” she said.

Forward to the Future author Glenn Harlan Reynolds, professor of law at the University of Tennessee and author of numerous articles on law, science, and technology, outlines how nanotechnology is expected to reduce energy consumption, dramatically advance medicine’s ability to cure and prevent disease, and significantly increase the precision and effectiveness of military devices and weapons.

Drawing on experience with other regulated technologies, ranging from atomic energy to recombinant DNA, the paper explains how the dramatic capabilities of nanotechnology are likely to lead to misguided calls for regulation or perhaps even prohibition.

“Already, some prominent individuals have questioned the rationale of continuing nanotech research – this is our effort to tell them and others that nanotech has more benefits than drawbacks, and that bans and heavy regulation are not in society’s best interests,” said Arrison.

“We are confident that nanotechnology will change the world for the better. This is a guide on how to properly manage the policy issues along the way,” she said.

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About PRI
For more than two decades, the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has championed individual liberty through free markets. PRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility.