Scientists hold secret meeting to discuss creating human genome
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(TRUNEWS) A secret meeting was held Tuesday at Harvard Medical School, where 150 scientists, lawyers and government officials discussed the possibility of creating a manufactured human genome.
Chemicals would be used to put together the DNA contained in human chromosomes, according to The New York Times.
It could lead to the ability to create an artificial genome, which could be implanted to make a baby without parents. Some experts believe this could be possible within 10 years.
It is just an idea at this point. But it could serve as a sequel to the Human Genome Project, which had the goal of reading the sequence of the three billion chemical letters in the human DNA blueprint. The new project would involve writing a human genome.
There are ethical issues, like whether scientists could create people to have certain traits, like eye or hair color. Cloning could be involved.
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A bioethicist at Northwestern University, Laurie Zoloth believes the project could be risky.
“This idea is an enormous step for the human species, and it shouldn’t be discussed only behind closed doors,” Zoloth, according to Statnews.
Others agreed. The executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society said the closed-door meeting is out of step with principles established last year at the International Summit on Human Genome Editing. The group decided that work on genomes should not go forth until there is a “broad societal consensus about the appropriateness of the proposed alteration.”.
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