The fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science are becoming ever more entwined. The resulting combination is known as the 'NBIC convergence'. In future, we are told, it will be possible to redesign matter, to deconstruct it and reconstruct it in any form we wish – molecule by molecule if necessary. Science fiction? Today, yes. But possibly not for very much longer. Throughout the world, researchers and scientists are hard at work to achieve this very aim.
Many people predict a 'new technological wave'. Traditional dividing lines will become ever less distinct, whether between human and animal, young and old, real and artificial, healthy and sick, living and inanimate, or man and machine. Such far-reaching technological developments demand a thorough process of social and ethical reflection.
Essay collection: ‘Life as a construction kit’
The Rathenau Institute establishes the links between ethical issues and the considerations which policy-makers must address. Its essay collection Leven als bouwpakket ['Life as a construction kit'] sets out the ethical and political dilemmas which the new technological wave will inevitably raise. There must be a full and frank discussion over the desirability and ethical acceptability of an ability to re-engineer the world as we see fit. The first essay in the book considers the necessity of a new type of sustainability: 'human sustainability'.
| Department: | Technology Assessment |
| Time-span: | January 2007 - December 2009 |
| Status: | Closed |
Researchers
| Job title: | Coordinator |
| Department: | Technology Assessment |