The Question of Ethics in Nanomedicine

Abstract

Lately, nanotechnology and nanomedicine have achieved tremendous interest and funding, from several entities and directions. Nanomedicine demonstrates great promise for development of medical diagnosis, treatment, and prevention; it also raises various ethical concerns however, there has not been so much study and discussion about social and ethical issues. Nanomaterials are extremely reactive in biological systems owing to the large surface area. Although the benefits of nanomaterials are apparent, there are some studies which show the potential risk to biological systems. Therefore, the rapid progress of nanomedicine and its potentially profound social and environmental impacts is indicative of how the arisen problems could be dangerous and already there are signs that some challenging ethical issues could be raised. In this paper we will examine more recent developments in debates on nanomedicine ethics.