Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Navigating advanced technology transitions: using lessons from nanotechnology

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Nanotechnology

View current issue Submit your manuscript

As researchers, developers, policymakers and others grapple with navigating socially beneficial advanced technology transitions — especially those associated with artificial intelligence, DNA-based technologies, and quantum technologies — there are valuable lessons to be drawn from nanotechnology. These lessons underscore an urgent need to foster collaboration, engagement and partnerships across disciplines and sectors, together with bringing together people, communities, and organizations with diverse expertise, as they work together to realize the long-term benefits of transformative technologies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Feynman, R. P. Eng. Sci. 23, 22–36 (1960).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Drexler E. Engines of creation: The coming era of nanotechnology (Anchor Books: New York, 1986).

  3. NSTC & IWGN. Nanotechnology: Shaping the world, atom by atom (1999).

  4. Nanotechnology Environmental and Health Implications (NEHI) Working Group. NNI https://www.nano.gov/about-nni/working-groups/nehi (9 May 2023).

  5. Hansen, S. F., Maynard, A., Baun, A. & Tickner, J. A. Nat. Nanotechnol. 3, 444–447 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Macnaghten, P., Kearnes, M. B. & Wynne, B. Sci. Commun. 27, 268–291 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kulinowski, K. M. in Nanoscale: Issues and Perspectives for the Nano Century. (eds Cameron, N. & Mitchell, M. E.) 393–411 (John Wiley & Sons, 2007).

  8. Stokes, E. & Bowman, D. M. Eur. J. Risk Regul. 3, 235–241 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Barbara, S. CMAJ 164, 1612 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Aslam, N. et al. Nat. Rev. Phys. 5, 157–169 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Blunt, N. S. et al. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 18, 7001–7023 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. NRL Announces the Washington Metropolitan Quantum Network Research Consortium (DC-QNet). U.S. Naval Research Laboratory https://www.nrl.navy.mil/Media/News/Article/3060477/nrl-announces-the-washington-metropolitan-quantum-network-research-consortium-d/ (27 June 2022).

  13. Tang, J., LeBel, A., Jain, S. & Huth, A. G. Nat. Neurosci. 26, 858–866 (2023).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Late Lessons From Early Warnings: Science, Precaution, Innovation (EAA, 2013); https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/abc921c2-d517-445e-a661-504eeea4b564/language-en

  15. Late Lessons From Early Warnings: The Precautionary Principle 1896-2000 (EAA, 2001); https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/environmental_issue_report_2001_22 (22 July, 2023)

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School for the Future of Being Human, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Andrew D. Maynard

  2. Knowledge Enterprise, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Sean M. Dudley

Authors
  1. Andrew D. Maynard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sean M. Dudley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew D. Maynard.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Maynard, A.D., Dudley, S.M. Navigating advanced technology transitions: using lessons from nanotechnology. Nat. Nanotechnol. 18, 1118–1120 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-023-01481-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-023-01481-5

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation