Is this different than cells self-impaling on asbestos fibers because the Si nano-wires are smaller? In the video from TFA it showed some cells with wires going through them that were longer than the cell's diameter.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-nanotube-d...
However, if they can make the nanowires shorter than the minimum dimension of a human cell then it likely wouldn't cause the same sort of cancers as asbestos.
It seems like a tiny knife floating around inside the cell would still cause problems, including genetic damage.
Or did you mean it wouldn't cause the same sort of cancers, but rather new, exciting cancers? :)