Exclusive article by China's well-off network.
Text |Hu Xiaosheng, deputy editor-in-chief of Xiaokang magazine and editor-in-chief of China's well-off network.
The impact of nanotechnology on human society is far-reaching, and it is a process full of opportunities and challenges.
Many people are obsessed with creating a microcosm, burning**, painting or creating miniature landscapes on a very small area that is difficult to observe with the naked eye, which is the curiosity and exploration of another parallel world by human beings. When scientists were able to manipulate atoms, humanity entered a whole new microscopic world of nanometers. Since 1989, Stanford University, IBM, and the Beijing Vacuum Physics Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have successively manipulated atoms to write the words "Stanford University", "IBM" and "China".
The nano world refers to the microscopic field between 1 and 100 nanometers in size, which is a world that cannot be observed with the naked eye and is the scale of one-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair. At the nanoscale, the properties and behaviors of matter have undergone great changes, which provides new possibilities for research in the fields of new materials, new drugs, and new energy, and brings many practical applications to human society by promoting scientific and technological progress in the fields of materials science, chemistry, and biology.
The scientific community generally believes that in the next 10 to 15 years, nanotechnology will be deeply applied to information, energy, environmental protection, biomedicine, manufacturing, national defense and other fields, forming an emerging industry based on nanotechnology. Therefore, at the national strategic level, major countries and economies in the world have successively laid out nanotechnology as the commanding heights of future competition in the fields of science and technology, industry and economy.
Competition in the field of nanotechnology is already fierce on a global scale. China has been at the forefront of the world in the fields of nanocatalysis and nanosafety, and we have paid attention to and learned about representative nano industry clusters such as Suzhou Industrial Park and Guangzhou Huangpu Nano Valley, as well as enterprises at the forefront of nanotechnology, such as Navitas Technology, Junquan Intelligent Medicine, and Huake Chuangzhi. Scientists, local** and entrepreneurs have made outstanding contributions to China's participation in the global competition in nanotechnology.
With the development of nanotechnology, human beings continue to improve their ability to manipulate matter and life, and the problems that may arise cannot be ignored. Just as the invention of plastics has brought countless new inventions and new conveniences to mankind, but white pollution has not been expected, the safety of new nano materials and the impact on the human body and the environment are not fully understood. For example, issues such as the toxicity, biodistribution, and metabolic pathways of nanomaterials require further research.
Biological aspects also raise a range of ethical and legal issues. For example, gene editing technology can alter the genetic information of organisms through nanoscale manipulation, which can lead to questions about the origin and evolution of life, biodiversity issues, human dignity and rights, etc. Therefore, how to ensure that the ethical and legal bottom line of mankind is not broken while ensuring scientific and technological progress is an important challenge facing the nano era.
The impact of nanotechnology on human society is far-reaching, and it is a process full of opportunities and challenges. In this process, we need to fully recognize the importance and potential of nanotechnology, and also pay attention to the safety and ethical issues it brings. By strengthening international cooperation, increasing R&D investment, and improving laws and regulations, we are expected to achieve sustainable development of human society in the nano era.
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This article was published in the early January 2024 issue of Xiaokang.