Nanotechnology: facts and fictions.

• Author: Caulfield, Timothy

Similar to other scientific areas, such as genetics and stem cell research, nanotechnology has sparked both public enthusiasm and social concern. Though hardly a new field of research, it is only recently that nanotechnology has caught the attention of the popular media and major public funding agencies. As a result of these developments, nanotechnology is now the focus of policy discussions and ethical debates.

In this special edition of the Health Law Review we explore both the scientific and social issues associated with nanotechnology. We have brought together a remarkable, interdisciplinary, collection of authors, including lawyers, philosophers, sociologists, communications experts, and nanotechnology scientists; the perfect team to provide information about the reality of the current science and to analyse the complex and still forming social concerns associated with nanotechnology.

A theme that runs through many of the papers in this collection relates to the "hype" that surrounds nanotechnology. There are already a number of outspoken stakeholders...