The Green Goo

From Wired, Green Goo: The New Nano-Threat --

First it was "gray goo," the threat of self-replicating machines populating the planet. Now an environmental think tank is raising the specter of "green goo," where biology is used to create new materials and new artificial life forms.

In its report, published on July 8, the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration said the risks from green goo demand the most urgent foresight and caution. "With nanobiotech, researchers have the power to create completely new organisms that have never existed on Earth," said the ETC release accompanying its report.

There will always be threats posed by emerging technology. The risks get bigger as each techno-economic wave builds upon its predecessors. So the more reason we have to pay extra attention to the upcoming Nano and/or Neuro. "The higher that we climb, the more the ladder sways."

(Note: The Green Goo has no relation to the Mean Green Meme. Or is there?)