by Andrew Maynard | May 26, 2010 | Emerging Technology, Future, Policy, Risk, Synthetic Biology, Technology Innovation
Last week’s announcement from the J. Craig Venter Institute that scientists had created the first-ever synthetic cell was a profoundly significant point in human history, and marked a turning point in our quest to control the natural world. But the ability to...
by Andrew Maynard | Apr 30, 2010 | Nanotechnology, Policy
Marc Saner at Carleton University in Canada sent this timeline of key nanotech policy events to me the other day. It’s probably the most comprehensive compilation of events influencing the development of nanotech policy in America, Europe and Australia...
by Andrew Maynard | Apr 28, 2010 | Emerging Technology, Engagement, Policy
Does the US need more public participation in assessing technologies and their potential impact on society, and informing decisions on their development and use? Richard Sclove – author of a new report on technology assessment – thinks yes; but only as...
by Andrew Maynard | Apr 10, 2010 | Emerging Technology, Oversight, Policy, Society
According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) plans to form a new interagency group on emerging technologies, including nanotechnology and synthetic biology. The...
by Andrew Maynard | Apr 6, 2010 | Communication, Emerging Technology, Policy
To coincide with my move to the University of Michigan, Seed Magazine has just published a series of ten questions and answers on what I do and what motivates me as a scientist. You can read how well I fared (or didn’t, as the case may be) with questions as...
by Andrew Maynard | Mar 18, 2010 | Nanotechnology, Policy
Ten years ago, President Clinton laid the foundation stone of the current global Nanotechnology Initiative. In a speech given at at Caltech, he announced the formation of the US National Nanotechnology Initiative, and set a chain of events in motion that has led to...
