NIRT: Building Capacity for Social and Ethical Research and Education in Agrifood Nanotechnology

纳米技术——在分子水平上构建和运行的设备的发展——有望在经济的各个阶段彻底改变制造和分销方法。农业作为最古老、最成熟的经济部门之一，也不例外。然而，最近引入重组DNA的革命性技术方法（即农业生物技术）的尝试与一些关键的伦理和社会问题有关，包括长期和分裂的社会冲突。纳米技术对农业意味着什么？农业能教给纳米技术什么？这个项目有三大目标：1)从农业食品生物技术的社会冲突中汲取教训，这些教训可能对从事新纳米技术计划的所有研究人员都有用；2)在与农业食品技术相关的社会和伦理问题上具有丰富经验的资深研究人员和在农业食品科学的社会和经济维度上开展研究的相对较低的研究人员之间建立一个新的多学科能力团队；3)确定纳米技术在农业食品部门（包括食品分配和消费）最有可能的应用，并制定一项积极的战略，以理解和解决与之相关的社会和伦理问题。第三个目标包括旨在开发概念和研究框架、开发治理愿景以及吸引利益相关者和公众的活动。作为这一目标的一部分，该项目将为面向纳米技术科学家和工程师、农业食品利益相关者和公众的农业食品纳米技术的社会和伦理层面的教育开发材料。这项研究将有助于在社会学、人类学、经济学和哲学等学科中理解工程、科学和技术的社会维度。研究方法包括访谈、内容分析、网络论坛、分析审议和哲学分析，每一种方法都是由在以前的项目中使用过这些方法的团队成员部署的。团队会议、专题讨论会的开展以及团队领导的积极整合和管理将被用来加强这些方法，并整合每个方法的研究结果。这一过程的关键将是三个研讨会，所有小组成员和受邀嘉宾都将参加，讨论以下主题：a)农业食品生物技术的教训，b)农业食品纳米技术的新兴形态，以及c)与农业食品纳米技术相关的食品安全和产品质量的新兴标准。该小组还将与一个欧洲研究小组合作，该小组目前正在开展一个关于公众参与纳米技术管理和发展的项目。研究活动将通过开发在线课程、针对纳米技术科学家和工程师、农业生产者和更广泛的公众的推广/推广活动以及在专业会议上发表的论文或专题讨论会而得到加强，解决农业食品纳米技术中的社会和伦理问题。这项研究适用于纳米技术的非农业领域，也适用于其他形式的技术，论文和报告的结构将面向更广泛的受众。强调让利益相关者和公众成员参与这项研究的开展，有望帮助建立一个更具参与性和民主的场所，以便就农业纳米技术的应用进行决策。该提案解决了美国国家科学基金会纳米科学与工程项目招标（NSF 03-043）的主题“纳米科技进步的社会和教育意义”。

Nanotechnology - the development of devices constructed and operating at a molecular level - promises to revolutionize methods of manufacture and distribution throughout all phases of the economy. Agriculture - among the oldest and most established sectors of the economy - will be no exception. However, the recent attempt to introduce the revolutionary technical methods of recombinant DNA (i.e. agricultural biotechnology) has been associated with a number of critical ethical and social issues, including a prolonged and divisive social conflict. What will nanotechnology mean for agriculture? And what can agriculture teach nanotechnology? This project intertwines three broad objectives: 1) Deriving lessons from the social conflict over agrifood biotechnology that may be useful to the entire range of researchers engaged in the new nanotechnology initiative; 2) Building a new multi-disciplinary competence among a team of senior researchers with extensive experience in social and ethical issues associated with agrifood technology, who have collaborated to develop communication strategies in engineering applications, and relatively junior researchers starting research programs in social and economic dimensions of agrifood science; and 3) Identifying the most likely applications of nanotechnology within the agrifood sector (including food distribution and consumption), and developing a proactive strategy for understanding and addressing social and ethical issues associated with them. This third objective encompasses activities aimed at developing a conceptual and research framework, developing visions for governance, and engaging stakeholders as well as the general public. As part of this objective, the project will develop materials for education on the social and ethical dimensions of agrifood nanotechnology directed to nanotechnology scientists and engineers, agrifood stakeholders, and the general public. This research will contribute to understanding the societal dimensions of engineering, science and technology in the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, economics and philosophy. Methods of research involve interviews, content analysis, web fora, analytic deliberation and philosophical analysis, each deployed by team members who have used these methods in prior projects. Team meetings, conduct of symposia, and active integration and management on the part of team leadership will be used to strengthen these methods and integrate the findings from each. Key to this process will be three workshops in which all team members and invited guests will participate, to address the themes of a) lessons from agrifood biotechnology, b) the emerging shape of agrifood nanotechnology and c) emerging standards for food safety and product quality associated with agrifood nanotechnology. The team will also collaborate with a European research team presently starting a project on public participation in the management and development of nanotechnology. The research activities will be augmented with the development of an online course addressing social and ethical issues in agrifood nanotech, outreach/extension activities directed to nanotechnology scientists and engineers, agricultural producers, and the broader public, and papers or symposia presented at professional meetings. The research is applicable to non-agricultural domains of nanotechnology, as well as to other forms of technology, and papers and presentations will be structured to reach this wider audience. The emphasis on involving stakeholders and members of the public in the conduct of this research promises to help create a more participatory and democratic venue for decision-making regarding applications of agricultural nanotechnology. This proposal addresses the "Societal and Educational Implications of Scientific and Technological Advances on the Nanoscale" theme of NSF's Nanoscale Science and Engineering program solicitation (NSF 03-043).