ABSTRACT
On the other hand, the development of ethical reflection on nanotechnology has been carried out during the second half of
the twentieth century. The year 2003 can be considered the year in which “nanoethics” was born. A number of key events concerning nanoethics occurred during that pivotal year. On April 9, 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science held a hearing to examine the societal implications of nanotechnology and to consider H.R. 766, The Nanotechnology Research and Development Act. During Langdon Winner’s speech, a new kind of professional was mentioned, the “nanoethicists” (those who would deal with a new discipline, the “nanoethics”; the available literature does not seem to support that the words “nanoethics” and “nanoethicist” existed before this speech).
