Roberts - Research topic and what to explore

Question: Is the investigation of stem cells or nanotechnology a legitimate hope for the future, or is there too much risk and opposition for its success?

Originally, I thought that I wanted to write about stem cells and the moral debate on that, but after reading the Roberts article, I thought that it was very bland and dry to write about simply a moral debate, so I thought about other means. I think that is when I came across nanotechnology. It isn't talked about as much as stem cells and is less controversial in its usage, but that makes it a more interesting topic. If there is less of idea about it in the mind of the reader, there will be a greater impact about whether or that is a significant issue for our society. I haven't completely given up on the idea of stem cells, if necessary I might fall back on that if there isn't enough information or opposition to the idea of nanotechnology. I think that it would be interesting to try and protest the new technology, since it seems like such an impeccable advancement, free from the allegation of inhuman that stem cells seemed to be accused of. This mean that it will be all the more convincing if I argue against rather then for it, since there wont be any real logical counter-arguments prepared. The greatest obstacle will be the lack of sufficient and credible data backing up my point. The field of nanotechnology, just like stem cells, is more theory then actual data. Though tests have been run and they look promising, nothing large scale or ultimately deciding can be used as precedent to support the claims made. But like Roberts said, “One rather simple way of getting interest into your paper is to take the side of the argument that most citizens will want to avoid,” which sometimes means taking a harder topic or approach to a paper. One topic that I want to explore is the idea of nanotechnology becoming an environment and health hazard. Like in the industrial revolution with asbestos. Nanotechnology could become just the same, and once released into the world, it is almost unidentifiable, so could become a major health risk. With this I could investigate how technological changes correlate to particular health or environment problems. But overall the paper wont be on the direct facts that nanotechnology has produced since it hasn't advanced enough to tell for sure, but on how its production and use could inversely affect people and society.