IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 47

width) [11], increased knowledge in nano-scale science
will inevitably reflect a greater understanding of our cells
and their potential enhancement or modification [12].
Much biotechnology today involves nano-sized science.
Coupled with synthetic biology, the ability to manipulate
and enhance human functions, both for civilian and military purposes, will only increase in the coming years.
Altman, an expert scientist on the potential military
uses of nano-sized materials, predicts that:
New agents may remove previous operational difficulties of biological warfare. Advanced capabilities
may include the use of genetic markers to target an
ethnic group or even a specific individual. New
options for nuclear weapons might include NT
[nanotech]-based materials extraction and processing, weapons production, and perhaps new types
of nuclear weapons. NT manufacturing based on
self-replication could produce conventional weapons in such large quantities that they acquire the
character of mass-destruction weapons [13].
In addition to Altman's concerns, there is an issue of
dual use research of concern (also called DURC). DURC,
where a particular capability might be beneficial, or also
could potentially be damaging and destructive-for
example with mimicking pathogens-has particular resonance with nanotechnology. The question of how to
manage dual-purpose research raises many potential
challenges for those involved. One example of potential
dual use is that of nanoparticles being used to penetrate the blood-brain barrier of mice without the use of
any drugs, for the sole purpose of targeting brain cancer
cells. This type of progress has obvious potentially
malevolent and undetectable applications.Nano-sized
materials are impossible to see with the naked eye, are
difficult to contain, and are easy to aerosolize, particularly with current technology [14].
The author is in agreement with Boothby that
"[n]anotechnology is most unlikely to be the subject, as
such, of a legal review under the law of armed conflict,"
but that a weapon system or means of warfare including
nanotechnology will increasingly require review [15].
In conclusion, new ways of reviewing nano-enhancement must be considered to ensure compliance with
the existing law of armed conflict. This will require an
individualized approach to different technologies. Questions still remain as to when and how reviews should
take place to ensure compliance with international law.

Acknowledgment
The research for this Ph.D. is supported by the Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding
scheme (project number DP130100432).
march 2017

∕

Author Information
Kobi Leins is a Ph.D. candidate at the Melbourne Law
School and a member of the Program on the Regulation
of Emerging Military Technologies at the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law. Her Ph.D. is focused on the legal
implications of developing and deploying weapons systems using nanotechnology.

References
[1] Statute of the International Court of Justice (adopted 26 June
1945, entered into force 24 December 1945) 15 UNCIO 335 Art. 38(1).
[2] Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International
Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), opened for signature 8 June 1977, 1125
UNTS 3 (entered into force 7 December 1979), Art. 35(2).
[3] Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous
or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, opened for
signature 17 June 1925, 94 LNTS 65 (entered into force 8 February 1928).
[4] Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin
Weapons and on Their Destruction, opened for signature 10 April
1972, 1015 UNTS 163 (entered into force 26 March 1975).
[5] Convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and on their
destruction, opened for signature 3 September 1992, 1974 UNTS 45
(entered into force 29 April 1997).
[6] J. Kahn, "Nanotechnology," National Geographic, pp. 98-119, June 2006.
[7] The Foresight Institute, "Nanotechnology for heart repair advances," Nanotechnology, Foresight Institute; https://www.foresight.org/
nanodot/?p=4793, accessed Mar. 23, 2016.
[8] M. Mehdi Doroudchi et al., "Virally delivered channelrhodopsin2
safely and effectively restores visual function in multiple mouse models of blindness," 19 Molecular Therapy vol. 1220, pp. 1228, vol. 2011.
[9] Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), "Atoms
to product: Aiming to make nanoscale benefits life-sized," Media
release, Aug. 22, 2014; http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases
/2014/08/22.aspx.
[10] Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology, Committee on Technology, and National Science and Technology Council, "NNI Supplement To The President's Budget For Fiscal
Year 2015," Report, The National Nanotechnology Initiative, Executive Office Of The President, Mar. 2014; http://www.nano.gov/sites/
default/files/pub_resource/nni_fy15_budget_supplement.pdf.
[11] W. Bainbridge and M. Roco, Progressive Convergence. Springer, 2006, p. 3.
[12] J. Heller and C. Peterson, "Human enhancement and nanotechnology," Foresight Institute; http://www.foresight.org/policy/brief2
.html, accessed Aug. 18, 2016.
[13] J. Altmann and M. Gubrud, "Risks from military uses of nanotechnology - The need for technology assessment and preventive
control," presented at Nanotechnology - Revolutionary Opportunities
and Societal Implications, 3rd JOINTEC-NSF Workshop on Nanotechnology (Lecce, Italy), 2002.
[14] M. Wheelis and M. Dando, "Neurobiology: A case study of the
imminent militarization of biology," Int. Rev. Red Cross, vol. 87, p.
560, 2005.
[15] W. Boothby, "How will weapons reviews address the challenges
posed by new technologies?," Military Law and the Law of War
Rev., vol. 52, no. 1, p. 57, 2013.

1
"The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law
such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply:a. international conventions,
whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by
the contesting states;b. international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law; c. the general principles of law recognized Hi civilized
nations;and d. subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions and
the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as
subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law" [1].

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