Scientists to launch 10-year project for creating human genomesJune 4, 2016 - 15:11 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A group of American-led scientists and entrepreneurs has announced the start of a 10-year project aimed at creating synthetic human genomes in a move that could revolutionize the field of biotechnology but raises troubling ethical concerns, AFP says. The ambitious proposal could make it possible to grow human organs for transplant and speed up the development of vaccines, the project backers said in a paper published Thursday, June 2 in the journal Science. But the idea has already sparked criticism due to the potential of one day creating children with no biological parents, and due to the secrecy surrounding a recent closed-door meeting on the subject. Its proponents envision a project on the same scale as the Human Genome Project, which mapped and published the full, sequenced human genome in 2003 -- or the 99.9 percent that we all have in common. Dubbed "Human Genome Project-write" or "HGP-write" -- since synthesizing would amount to "writing" rather than "reading" our genetic code -- the project aims to reduce the cost of engineering DNA segments in the lab, AFP says. The new goal would be "more ambitious and more focused on understanding the practical applications than the original Human Genome Project," said George Church, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School, and one of the 25 authors of the paper. The project's backers said they hoped to launch it this year after raising $100 million around the world from public, private, philanthropic and academic sources. They did not provide an estimate for total costs, saying only that it would likely be less than the $3 billion for the Human Genome Project. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Russia provides info about arrested Armenian ex-MP Russian law enforcement agencies have provided information about the arrest of Tigran Urikhanyan. Lemkin Institue slams Pashinyan's “cryptic engagement with Genocide denial” The Lemkin Institute is alarmed over Pashinyan’s statements “questioning Armenia's legal basis to pursue justice against Turkey”. 41 detained as antigovernment protests continue in Yerevan 41 people were detained in Yerevan as people demanding Pashinian’s resignation stage campaigns of civil disobedience. Armenia votes for UN resolution granting Palestine new rights The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on May 10 to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine. |