Implantable nano-neurotechnological devices: consideration of ethical, legal, and social issues and implications

Over the past decades, there has been considerable progress in the capability and application(s) of technology in the neurosciences. The tools of neurotechnology conjoin advances made in other disciplines, including nanoscience, to offer somewhat unique properties and capabilities that affect multiple dimensions of neural systems via implantable devices that afford articulation and manipulation at the subcellular scale. However, while striving for good, it is equally important to regard potential to generate major ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that arise in, and from the study and applications of implantable nano-neurotechnologies. This paper discusses specific properties and uses of various nano-neurotechnologies, and addresses proximate and distal ELSI. We argue that the fusion of nano- and neuroscience and technologies give rise to unique risks and burdens, but posit that a frank precautionary principle might be unrealistic given the demiurge of progress. Rather, we call for a dialectical approach that balances technological incentives with responsibility for inquiry, application, and consequences, and advocate that potential ELSI must be appreciated early and throughout the research and development process.