Which NBICS For What, When?

Saturday, October 6, 2007
Posted in Dr. Wolbring Health Human Rights Science | Tagged Dr. Wolbring, Health, Human Rights, Science

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It seems that sciences and technologies� are replacing each others in an in an ever-increasing-speed to offer solutions for the same problems. In 2002 the top 10 Biotechnologies for Improving Health in Developing Countries was published .(1)

Modified molecular technologies for affordable, simple diagnosis of infectious disease.
Recombinant technologies to develop vaccines against infectious diseases.
Technologies for more efficient drug and vaccine delivery systems.
Technologies for environmental improvement (sanitation, clean water, bioremediation).
Sequencing pathogen genomes to understand their biology and to identify new antimicrobials.
Female-controlled protection against sexually transmitted disease, both with and without contraceptive effect.
Bioinformatics to identify drug targets and to examine pathogen-host interactions.
Genetically modified crops with increased nutrients to counter specific deficiencies.
Recombinant technology to make therapeutic products (e.g. insulin, interferon’s) more affordable.
Combinatorial chemistry for drug discovery.

In 2005 the top 10 nanotechnology applications for development�followed (2)

�� Energy storage, production and conversion;
�� Agricultural productivity enhancement;
�� Water treatment and remediation;
�� Disease diagnosis and screening;
�� Drug delivery systems;
�� Food processing and storage;
�� Air pollution and remediation;
�� Construction;
�� Health monitoring;
�� Vector and pest detection and control.

In 2006 the top ten Regenerative Medicine Applications for Improving Health in Developing Countries (3;4)� followed whereby regenerative medicine is defined� as “an emerging interdisciplinary field of research and clinical applications focused on the repair, replacement, or regeneration of cells, tissues, or organs to restore impaired function resulting from any cause, including congenital defects, disease, and trauma. It uses a combination of several technological approaches that moves it beyond

�traditional transplantation and replacement therapies. These approaches may include, but are not limited to, the use of stem cells, soluble molecules, genetic engineering, tissue engineering, and advanced cell therapy.” .(3;4) For every application mentioned in the� top 10 lists above, one can find alternative solutions discussed in the literature of synbio solutions (5-19).�

�One can find similar discussions in the top 10 Artificial Technologies Ready to Create a Real Human Being list (more see my bionic column) and the top ten transhumanists technologies.

�� �

1. Artificial General Intelligence.

2. Mind uploading. �

3. Megascale engineering.

4. Molecular manufacturing. �

5. Autonomous self-replicating robotics.

6. Cybernetics.

7. Space colonization.

8. Gene therapy/RNA interference.

9. Virtual reality.

10. Cryonics.

Synbio, Nanobio, Nanosynbio NBICS all might be employed in providing the solutions for the top 10. Often they compete with different solutions for the same problem.

As many of the top 10 cover development and developing countries, how would a Development agency decide what to do? Is the S&T proposed still the best one out there or do other S&T offer a better solution for a given problem? Is a S&T solution the best way to go or is a social solution needed? Under what societal circumstances does a given S&T solution make sense? Using the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) as an example I developed a list of factors a program officers at CIDA might need to consider and questions a program officers at CIDA might need to ask as they evaluate their options. My list is informed by� CIDA’s values , mandate , policies� and accountability framework,� by the Paris Declaration of Aid Effectiveness, and by the philosophies of other international Development Agencies such as the Danish one.�

Reproduced with permission from Innovation Watch: http://www.innovationwatch.com/

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Please contact the author for any information desired at
� Gregor Wolbring, All Rights Reserved, 2007. Please contact the author for permission to reprint.�More columns can be found at innovationwatch.
Gregor Wolbring is a biochemist, bioethicist, disability/vari-ability/ability studies scholar, and health policy and science and technology governance researcher at the University of Calgary. He is a member of the Center for Nanotechnology and Society at Arizona State University; Part Time Professor at Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada; Member CAC/ISO - Canadian Advisory Committees for the International Organization for Standardization section TC229 Nanotechnologies; Member of the editorial team for the Nanotechnology for Development portal of the Development Gateway Foundation; Chair of the Bioethics Taskforce of Disabled People’s International; and former Member of the Executive of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (2003-2007 maximum terms served). He publishes the Bioethics, Culture and Disability website and authors a weblog on NBICS and its social implications.

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References

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�� 19. � Robert Austin, Philip Ball, Angela Belcher, David Bensimon, Steven Chu, Cees Dekker, Freeman Dyson, Drew Endy, Scott Fraser, John Glass, Robert Hazen, Joe Howard, Jay Keasling, Hiroaki Kitano, Paul McEuen, Petra Schwille, Ehud Shapiro, and Julie Theriot, The Ilulissat Statement Synthesizing the Future a vision for the convergence of synthetic biology and nanotechnology Kavli Futures Symposium ‘The merging of bio and nano: towards cyborg cells’, http://www.kavlifoundation.org/news/pr_062507.html, 2007,.http://www.kavlifoundation.org/assets/docs/ilulissat_statement.pdf,� http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-06/cuns-scf062507.php.,Kavli Foundation Webpage

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