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In September of this year Hart Research Associates conducted a national survey and held focus groups to determine levels of public awareness of nanotechnology and synthetic biology, both supported by and on behalf of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies of the Woodrow Wilson Research Center in DC. The results of the survey, "Nanotechnology, Synthetic Biology and Public Opinion: A Report of Findings", was released on September 23, 2009. As our focus here is nanotechnology, we'll leave the results relating to synthetic biology alone for now.

The survey found that 31% of those surveyed had heard either a little or nothing at all about nanotechnology. That 37% figure is a significant change from the 42% who had heard or read little or nothing about nanotechnology in 2006, when the survey was first performed. 31% had heard or read something a little more in depth, virtually unchanged from the results in 2006, when it stood at 30%.

A further breakdown of the 31% who had some knowledge of nanotechnology found the following:

42% of this group were males. Of this segment, 48% were under 50 years of age, 45% were college graduates, and 46% had household incomes above $75K. Collectively, this creates a portrait of those who have some knowledge of nanotech as male, relatively young, educated and affluent.

Of those who had either heard or read little or nothing, a different portrait emerges:

20% were female, 13% had high school educations or less, 17% had annual household incomes below $30K and 15% were African Americans.

As the survey shows, public awareness (or lack of awareness) of nantechnology has changed very little over time from 2006 until the present. This might be explained by public attention being diverted by such events as the  2006 and 2008 Congressional and Presidential elections respectively, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the near collapse of the economy, lack of in depth media coverage of nanotechnology, aside from when events such as the deaths in the People's Republic of China occur, etc. Regrettably, the study doesnot explore the reasons for the lack of change from 2006 to 2008, devoting more space and time to sounding the depths of public reaction to and awareness of synthetic biology. This is something that future surveys may want to look into.

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It's almost a bit of a cliche now to say that nanotechnology is a growth field, ever expanding it's presence in government, academia and business.

With the release yesterday by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) of an updated version of the Nano Metro Map, we can see that there is a good deal of truth to the cliche. The map shows the metro areas with the largest concentrations of nanoindustries,  universities, research institutes, organizations, and government agencies involved in various areas of nanotechnology.

While the map shows that California and the New England - New York region dominating, with the Research Triangle area of the Carolinas and Texas as 3rd and 4th in rank, what it also shows is the presence in all the continental states, (Alaska and Hawaii are not shown on the map), of at least one research facility, nanoindustry, etc. Nanotechnology has spread from the California and New England regions to become a national presence.

The map will be updated as PEN receives and analyzes more data. 

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How to regulate nanomaterials, nanotechnologies, and nanoindustries has become and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a major focus of US and European regulatory agencies, legislatures on local and national levels and of NGOs.

This Fall in London, from 10-11 September, US and European regulators and researchers from NGOs such as the Woodrow Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, the London School of Economics, (a tidbit for the trivia buffs: Among the London School of Economics better know alumni, one Michael Philip Jagger, aka Mick Jagger) etc will meet and present a collaborative report and other papers. Attendance at the conference is by invitation only and e-mails should be addressed to nanotech@lse.ac.uk attention Ms. Carmen Gayson. For more information, look here.

The Woodrow Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies is also presenting a meeting and webcast in connection with the conference on September 23, 2009. For more information, take a look here.

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