Debate: Nanoparticles – a blessing or a curse?
Hans Leuenberger
Abstract
This chapter was inspired by Ilya Prigogine (Nobel laureate 1977) and by six axioms derived1 earlier, such as A1, Far from equilibrium conditions, favoring transformations from disorder into order leading to the creation of life, and A5 and 6, The evolutionary process uses all existing physical laws of the present standard cosmological model and beyond to find a niche for a successful survival of the biological system being complemented by A7, Nature’s principle of self-similarity, A8, Bionic inspired philosophical solutions, and most important by A9, The human society is a living biological system. Thus, life of a society is governed by the same laws as for a human being. From a global point of view, society’s life depends on system relevant organs such as brain (pool of scientists), heart (system of banks) pumping blood (money) to the muscles (industry), to the lungs (combustion engines), and to the digestive system (recycling industry). As in case of a human being, the society’s health, life, and death depend on framework conditions such as technologies improving quality of life. For this reason, an innovative spray-freeze drying process is presented, allowing manufacturing nanocomposite pellets for nanomedicine. The chapter shows that this technological solution based on scientific integrity is not sufficient for securing the public acceptance. It is necessary to respect religion and ethics, business ethics, legal framework, and to complement the nine axioms by A10, Common denominator of all Religions = Ethical Codex, by A11, Common denominator of Marketing and Politics = Trustworthy Communication and by A12, Common denominator of all Trustworthy Sciences = Scientific Integrity. In conclusion, the chapter defines rigorous prerequisites for public acceptance of nanotechnology and beyond, such as science diplomacy for the survival of mankind.