Nanotech Chronicles, The

In his 1991 novel The Nanotech Chronicles, the American statistician and science fiction writer Michael Flynn depicts the complexities of the development of nanotechnology and highlights the social and moral implications of the emerging technology. Using six fictional short stories, Flynn hurls us into a whirlpool of moral and ethical conflicts by juxtaposing the contradicting motives, values, and interests of nanoscientists in the course of conducting their research. Using unique narratives, Flynn included six short stories in the novel, each covering a different aspect of the social consequences of nanotechnology: “Soul of the City,” “The Washer at the Ford,” “Remember'd Kisses,” “The Laughing Clone,” “Werehouse,” and “The Blood Upon the Rose.”

In “The Washer at the Ford,” the second story in the novel, the main character, Dr. Charles Singer, is the inventor of molecular nanotechnology and chairman of SingerLab, a research company based in New Jersey. His wife, Dr. Jessica Burton-Peeler, and two other scientists form the core of the research team at SingerLab. Dr. Masao Koyanagi shows up at SingerLab one day and convinces the group to work on “nanomachines” that could significantly enhance the radioactive radiation resistance of [Page 538]human beings through genetic modification of corporal cells. As the story unfolds, conflicts among the scientists arise. Dr. Singer, an accomplished scientist with an entrepreneurial mind, has a strong desire to use this invention to increase profits for the company. Dr. Koyanagi views science as existing for the common good, and hopes to increase the radiation resistance of humankind to alleviate human suffering from the harmful effects of radioactivity. Dr. Burton-Peeler, the critic of the ambitious project, constantly argues that the risks of this invention outweigh the benefits, and engages the other scientists in deep ethical discourse about the research. Using interesting narratives and differing perspectives, the story reveals the intended and unintended moral, ethical, and social consequences of nanotechnology; the difference between objective and subjective risk judgments; and the conflicting interests, motives, and values in the daily work of nanoscientists.

Long after Dr. Singer passed away, Dr. Burton-Peeler continues to run SingerLab, which grows into a larger scale, with newer members. The ethical issues about nanotechnology continue into the third story in the novel, “Remember'd Kisses.” The main characters, Henry Carter, and his wife, Barbara, are genetic engineers at SingerLabs. Barbara meets with a fatal car accident one day and is killed instantly. On the same day, Henry saves Sadie, a vagabond, from the hands of street bullies. The devastated Henry misses his wife so much that he steals some capsule-sized “nanomachines” that contain Barbara's DNA cells from SingerLab. He administers the capsules (that have the power to restructure and repair genes) to Sadie in the desperate hope that she could be transformed into Barbara. After weeks of suffering in pain, Sadie's physical appearance and brain structure slowly resembles that of Barbara, and her past memories are gradually erased. Driven by gratitude, Sadie decides to use the identity of Barbara to be with Henry, even though slight memories of her past identity continue to linger. This story highlights the ethical issue of human beings using scientific inventions to play God, and further conveys the moral and social consequences of nanotechnology.

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