ISBN 9780639923802
ePub ISBN 9780639986685
Pages 278
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Illustrations B/W Illustrations
Published 2018
Publisher Mapungubwe Institute (MISTRA), South Africa
Formats Paperback, eBook

Beyond Imagination

The Ethics and Applications of Nanotechnology and Bio-Economics in South Africa

by MISTRA edited by Zamanzima Mazibuko

Nanotechnology is sweeping the world. This science of very small particles, which includes genetic modification and the reconfiguring of the arrangement of atoms, presents possibilities beyond imagination. It also has huge implications for all South Africans, especially at home.

How exactly is this new technology playing out in South Africa? In countries like India, nanotechnology is being supported as a source of income and innovation. It has the potential to improve both the human condition and a country’s productivity and competitiveness.

Is South Africa doing what it should and could to foster nanotechnology and biotechnology, and to advance bioeconomies within the country? And what does the new technology mean for us as consumers? How many of us know that this technology is already being employed in substances like suntan cream and lipstick, with potential health implications for users?

The application of nanotechnology poses risks as well as huge benefits, so we need to be particularly vigilant of the ethics and dangers of it. This book provokes discussion around these important topics and relays eyeopening information to those of us who thought all of this was sci-fi.

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About the Author

MISTRA

The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) was founded by a group of South Africans with experience in research, academia, policy-making and governance who saw the need to create a platform of engagement around strategic issues facing South Africa. It is an Institute that combines research and academic development, strategic reflection and intellectual discourse. It applies itself to issues such as economics, sociology, history, arts and culture and the logics of natural sciences.

About the Editor

Zamanzima Mazibuko

Zamanzima Mazibuko is a senior researcher in the Knowledge Economy and Scientific Advancement Faculty at MISTRA. She is a Wits university alumni and holds a BSc degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a BSc honours in Pharmacology. She obtained her MSc (Med) in Pharmaceutics cum laude and has published on nano-enabled drug delivery technologies in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. She has a patent filed with Wits Enterprise for a nano-enabled drug delivery system designed and formulated for her master's degree. Zamanzima's current research interests are on the low-carbon economy; beneficiation of strategic minerals in South Africa, particularly platinum group metals; nanomedicine; and epidemics and health systems in Africa.