THE Prince of Wales was ridiculed by Nobel prize-winning scientists yesterday for raising fears that miniature robots could turn the world into “grey goo”.

Leading experts, including two of Britain’s Nobel laureates, accused the Prince of ignorance and scaremongering after he expressed his concerns about nanotechnology.

The emerging science, which involves building tiny machines from atoms and molecules, holds great promise for medicine and electronics, but some environmentalists have suggested it could lead to the creation of uncontrollable, self-replicating “nanobots”.

The concept, which is dismissed by scientists, features in Prey, a novel by Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park, in which robots copy themselves, converting the planet into “grey goo”.

Experts, however, criticised the Prince for giving such fears credence.

Sir Harry Kroto, Professor of Chemistry at Sussex University, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1996, said: “Someone’s had this ridiculous idea about nanoscale robots that can replicate themselves, and it’s so far-fetched as to be utterly preposterous.”

“It shows a complete disconnection from reality. He should take a degree in chemistry, or at least talk to someone who understands it, rather than reading silly books.”

Sir Aaron Klug, of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1992 and is a former President of the Royal Society, said: “He’s been reading too much science-fiction. “I’m surprised that the Prince’s advisers cannot distinguish between science-fiction fantasy and what’s actually going on in the scientific world.”

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