ABSTRACT
Developed countries have invested considerably in nanotechnologies, and many developing countries are now putting public funding toward research and development. In Latin America, Brazil leads the way, followed by Mexico and Argentina, but many other countries in the region have active nanotechnology research centers (Foladori and Invernizzi, 2008). Nanotechnology development in many Latin American countries follows is market-driven rather than following state policies, an approach which suffers from two deficiencies: first, given the uncertainties of returns on this emerging technology, investment in nanotechnology has generally been limited; and second, this is a far different path than one aimed at satisfying the most pressing social needs.
