Fern Wickson

GenØk researcher Fern Wickson, together with colleagues from the Technical University of Denmark and Lancaster University has published a correspondence in Nature Nanotechnology emphasizing the importance of balancing scientific tensions in the field of nanoecotoxicology.

These tensions include those between basic and applied science, research within biological and chemical paradigms and the prioritization of testing under highly controlled laboratory or highly variable real world conditions. The authors highlight how the current urgent need for environmental, health and safety data to support regulatory decision-making on nanotechnologies is creating pressure for the development and use of international standards for nanoecotoxicology, and argue that such standardization is threating to cause an imbalance in research orientations. Calling for these tensions to be seen as complimentary yin/yang forces, the authors highlight actions that a range of stakeholders can take to restore balance in the field so as to maintain its scientific and public legitimacy.

The full correspondence can be read here

Wickson, F., Hartmann, N.B., Hjorth, R., Foss-Hansen, S., Wynne, B. and Baun, A. (2014) “Balancing Scientific Tensions” Nature Nanotechnology 9: 870. doi:10.1038/nnano.2014.237