The controversial project raises ethical fears about the possibility of creating genetically projected humans or biological weapons.
Green light was given in a controversial project to create the foundations of human life from scratch-in what is believed to be something unpublished no world.
The research has been a taboo so far due to concerns that it could lead to Babies Genetically Projected or unforeseen changes to future generations.
But now the largest charity in the world of the world, Wellcome Trust, has granted a initial funds of £ 10 million To start the project, and states that it has the potential to do better than bad, accelerating treatments for many incurable diseases.
Julian Sale of the Molecular Biology Laboratory of the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Cambridge, the United Kingdom, which is part of the project, told BBC News that the research is the next big leap in biology.
“The sky is the limit. We are looking for therapies that improve people’s lives as they get older, which lead to healthier aging, with fewer diseases as they get older. ”
“We are looking to use this approach to generate cells resistant to diseases that we can use to ‘repopulate’ damaged organsfor example, the liver and heart, even the immune system, ”he explained.
But critics fear that the survey opens the way for unscrupulous researchers who want to create enhanced or modified human beings.
Pat Thomas, director of the Beyond GM campaign group, said: “We like to think that all scientists are there to do good, but science can be reused to cause damage and for war“.
The details of the project were provided to BBC News on the 25th anniversary of the completion of the human genome project, which mapped the human DNA molecules, and was also funded largely by Wellcome.
Each cell in our body contains a molecule called DNA, which carries the genetic information it needs. DNA is built from only Four Lower Blockscalled A, G, C and T, which are repeated several times in different combinations. Surprisingly, it contains all the genetic information that makes us physically who we are.
The human genome project allowed scientists read all human genes as a barcode. The new research that is starting, called synthetic human genome project, potentially represents a breakthrough – it will allow researchers not only to read an DNA molecule, but create parts of it – perhaps one day, its entirely -, molecule by molecule from scratch.
The first purpose of scientists is to develop ways to build increasing blocks of human DNA, to the point where they have synthetically built a human chromosome. They contain the genes that govern our development, repair and maintenance.
They will then be able to be studied and subjected to experiments to better understand how genes and DNA regulate our bodies.
Many diseases occur when there are problems with these genes, so studies can lead to better treatments, according to Matthew Hurles, director of Wellcome Sanger Institute, which has sequenced most of the human genome.
“Building DNA from scratch allows us Test how DNA really works and test new theories, because we currently only do this by adjusting DNA in the [DNA] that already exists in living systems. ”
The scope of the project will be limited to test tubes and Petri signs, and there will be no attempt to create synthetic life. But technology will offer researchers an unprecedented control about human living systems.
And while the project is looking for health benefits, there is nothing to prevent unscrupulous scientists from misuse of technology.
Could, for example, try to create biological weaponsenhanced humans or even human DNA creatures, according to Bill Earnshaw, a highly respected genetic scientist at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, who designed a method for creating artificial human chromosomes.
“The genius is out of the lamp,” he told BBC News. “We could have a number of restrictions now, but if an organization that has access to the appropriate machinery to decide to start synthesizing anything, I don’t think we could stop it.”
Thomas is concerned about how technology will be marketed by health companies that develop treatments resulting from the research.
“If we can create synthetic parts of the body or even synthetic people, who will be the owner of them? And who belongs to the data of these creations?”
Given the possibility of misuse of technology, the question to Wellcome is why they decided to fund it. The decision was not taken lightly, according to Tom Collins, which gave the endorsement to the financing.
“We ask ourselves what the cost of inaction would be,” he told BBC News.
“This technology will be developed one dayTherefore, by doing this now, we are at least trying to do as responsible as possible, and confront the ethical and moral issues as directly as possible. ”
A dedicated program of social sciences will be carried out in parallel to the project’s scientific development, and will be led by Joy Zhang, a sociologist at Kent University in the United Kingdom.
“We want to know the opinion of experts, social scientists and especially the public about how they relate to technology and how they can be beneficial to them and especially what their doubts and concerns are,” he explains.
