NBIC — Legal Implications of Converging Technologies

NBIC is an acronym for nanoscience and nanotechnology, biotechnology and biomedicine (including genetic engineering), information technology, and cognitive science and neuroscience.   This cluster of related technologies is expected to have significant implications for society and, therefore, for the legal profession.   The NBIC concept, named in late 2001, was the result of a meeting that explored the social implications of nanotechnology research.   It represents a "multidisciplinary blending of science, engineering, technology and medicine" and the Canadian government has noted that this convergence will have an estimated global market worth of US $260 billion by 2005. The general implications of NBIC include expanded human cognition and communication, improved human health and physical capabilities, new opportunities for strengthening national security, new methods of learning and education, and a networked society with a global collective intelligence. The legal issues raised by NBIC will affect not just intellectual property law but also a variety of other practice areas such as privacy law, discrimination, technology transfer, tort, and health law. It is expected that there will be new variations of old tort suits arising from the use of nanotechnology.   The novel products and processes created by nanotechnology will require new forms and degrees of regulation.   The generation of biomedical information about DNA structure and propensity for illness will have effects on individual privacy.   The potential for manipulation of the human brain arising from the convergence of neuroscience and bioengineering will probably require and attract regulation. For the text of "Converging Technologies For Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology And Cognitive Science", a US report sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce, see: http://www.wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies. For Industry Canada's website on converging technologies, visit: http://makeashorterlink.com/?N24523F46. Summary by:   Clare McCurley