Nanotechnology is concerned with materials and systems whose structures and components exhibit novel physical, chemical, and biological properties due to their nanoscale size. This paper focuses on what is known as nanomedicine, referring to the application of nanotechnology to medicine. We consider the use and potentials of emerging nanoscience techniques in medicine such as nanosurgery, tissue engineering, and targeted drug delivery, and we discuss the ethical questions that these techniques raise. The ethical considerations involved in nanomedicine are related to risk assessment in general, somatic-cell versus germline-cell therapy, the enhancement of human capabilities, research into human embryonic stem cells and the toxicity, uncontrolled function and self-assembly of nanoparticles. The ethical considerations associated with the application of nanotechnology to medicine have not been greatly discussed. This paper aims to balance clear ethical discussion and sound science and so provide nanotechnologists and biotechnologists with tools to assess ethical problems in nanomedicine. INTRODUCTIONSignificant technological advances across multiple scientific disciplines continue to be proposed and validated. A revolution in health care and medical technology looms large on the horizon on the basis of the discipline of nanotechnology. Reports and articles often distinguish between nanoscience and nanotechnology. Nanoscience refers to the fundamental study of phenomena and the manipulation of matter at the atomic, molecular, and supramolecular level, where properties differ significantly from those at a larger scale. As such, nanoscience forms the knowledge base for nanotechnology. Nanotechnology refers to the design, characterisation, production, and application of structures, devices, and systems that have novel physical, chemical, and biological properties by controlling shape and size at the nanometre scale. Integration with other length scales will often be important to technological applications. In this paper we use the term nanotechnology as a collective term encompassing the various branches of both nanoscience and nanotechnology.Nanotechnology research has progressed rapidly over the last few years. Nanotechnology has become an interdisciplinary science where the disciplines of physics, chemistry, molecular biology, health sciences, and engineering collaborate, share knowledge, and build up a research culture across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Funding for nanotechnology has increased dramatically and nanotechnology has become a buzz word and is currently very visible compared to other fields of research. The vision of nanotechnology is to advance broad societal goals, such as improved comprehension of nature, increased productivity, better health care and to extend the limits of sustainable development and human potential [1]. A lot of developments in nanotechnology take years, but researchers and politicians claim that the process itself can lead to a new industrial revolution [2]. This paper fo...

Bioethical research has tended to focus on theoretical discussion of the principles on which the analysis of ethical issues in biomedicine should be based. But this discussion often seems remote from biomedical practice where researchers and physicians confront ethical problems. On the other hand, published empirical research on the ethical reasoning of health care professionals offer only descriptions of how physicians and nurses actually reason ethically. The question remains whether these descriptions have any normative implications for nurses and physicians? In this article, we illustrate an approach that integrates empirical research into the formulation of normative ethical principles using the moral-philosophical method of Wide Reflective Equilibrium (WRE). The research method discussed in this article was developed in connection with the project 'Bioethics in Theory and Practice'. The purpose of this project is to investigate ethical reasoning in biomedical practice in Denmark empirically. In this article, we take the research method as our point of departure, but we exclusively discuss the theoretical framework of the method, not its empirical results. We argue that the descriptive phenomenological hermeneutical method developed by Lindseth and Norberg (2004) and Pedersen (1999) can be combined with the theory of WRE to arrive at a decision procedure and thus a foundation for the formulation of normative ethical principles. This could provide health care professionals and biomedical researchers with normative principles about how to analyse, reason and act in ethically difficult situations in their practice. We also show how to use existing bioethical principles as inspiration for interpreting the empirical findings of qualitative studies. This may help researchers design their own empirical studies in the field of ethics.

The researchers' awareness of cultural differences and their ability to work in a culturally sensitive way are key factors in improving study participation and retention in a multicultural context. Taking cultural aspects into account during the whole research process improves the quality of research.