Lessons learned from the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications program (ELSI): Planning societal implications research for the National Nanotechnology Program

This paper considers federal requirements to institute a research program on societal and ethical considerations of nanotechnology, and to integrate the results of this research with nanotechnology research and development. It identifies research selection and assessment criteria derived in part from criticism of the Human Genome Project's Ethical, Legal, and Societal Implications program. This criticism concerns the capacity of bioethics research to influence policy. Since integration of societal research with nanotechnology development is meant to influence the direction of nanotechnology development, an explicit emphasis ought to be placed on the capacity of the new program's societal and ethical research to influence federal nanotechnology development policy.