Synthetic Humans? What Scientists Are Proposing...

Harvard University scientists are taking the first steps towards creating a completely synthetic human genome. 

If they are successful, the project would allow them to manufacture an entire set of human DNA. 

Scientists have already been able map out and read the human genome with The Human Genome Project (HGP). Now they want to take a shot at writing the human genome themselves. 

"We just had a revolution in our ability to read genomes," Harvard geneticist George Church told NPR. "The same thing is happening now with writing genomes."

But not everyone is celebrating this revolution. Many skeptics are concerned scientists will try to manufacture designer human beings with the new technology. 

"The worry is that we're going to be synthesizing entire optimized human genomes — manufacturing chromosomes that could be used ultimately to produce synthetic human beings that they see as improved models,"  Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, told NPR.

The group acknowledges that their project raises ethical concerns, but they are more focused on improved medical technology than the improved human race. 

"That's only a concern if you're talking about making people, and we're not talking about doing that," said geneticist and HGP member Jef Boeke. 

For example, scientists want to use synthetic genomes to treat diseases and create new drugs and vaccines. 

Despite all the controversy, the reality is that scientists are still very far from being able to write the entire human genome. According to NPR, scientists have only barely begun to write genomes for bacteria. Manufacturing human DNA is a much more daunting task.