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Program ID: Innovation Anthology #186
Program Date: 11/20/2008
Program Category: Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology Poses New Challenges to Legal Framework

Developments in the tiny world of nanotechnology promise a big splash that could revolutionize everything from communications to medical treatments.

One person grappling with the social and legal ramifications of nanoscience is Lori Sheremeta.

A lawyer and researcher on bioethics, she holds a number of advisory positions, including those with Alberta Ingenuity and the National Institute for Nanotechnology.

And she says, while nano is new science, we can draw upon previous experience to formulate social policy for nanotechnology.

LORI SHEREMETA: Really what we’re talking about is science at the nano scale being applied in ways we’re used to seeing. We’re developing new products, the iPOD is one example So we’ve come from walkmans through iPODS. So the way I look at it is not necessarily the transformative huge leap that has been portrayed. It’s science at the nano scale being applied in new novel ways and challenging us, as technologies have over the last centuries.

Lori Sheremeta says while it is the nature of law to play catch up with emerging technologies, the discussion on nanotechnology is well underway.

Thanks today Alberta Ingenuity.

I'M CHERYL CROUCHER

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Lori Sheremeta

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