Around 150 people, including scientists, lawyers, and businesspeople, held a special meeting at Harvard Medical School. The first detail is that the meeting had a private profile, with no press invited. The second is that participants were asked not to make any statements, even on social media. And the third is that they discussed the continuation of the Human Genome Project, creating a synthetic human genome. Could it be possible?
The Human Genome Project and Its "Continuation"
The Human Genome Project was declared "complete" in April 2003. Thirteen years of international collaboration, and millions of dollars invested in research and development, have allowed the scientific community to study and understand human genetics like never before. From a technical standpoint, the human genome was not fully sequenced, but the official portals explaining this haven't received updates in more than seven years, and we have no doubt that technology has advanced by leaps and bounds. The Human Genome Project is definitely one of the most successful in the history of modern science, and if someone decides to talk about a "continuation", the benefits must be considered. However, unlike the "profile" of the original project, this possibility of a continuation was discussed privately, behind closed doors, without the press, and with what could be called a "confidentiality agreement" among participants.
Of course, even the best geneticists in the world must understand that the famous Streisand Effect also applies to science, and what they wanted to keep secret is now scattered across the web. What exactly is it about? The creation of a synthetic human genome. The first project focused on "reading" the genome, while the new initiative would aim to "writing" one. According to Professor George Church of Harvard Medical School, it has all been a big misunderstanding, since the new project only seeks to "create cells", which would not be limited to the human genome, and at the same time it would seek to improve existing methods for DNA synthesis "in general". While it may be a classic case of "game of telephone", there are two details that work against Church's statement: The original project name was "HGP2: The Human Genome Synthesis Project", and an official invitation to the meeting at Harvard indicated that the project's main objective was to "synthesize a complete human genome" in a cell line within a period of ten years.
By the time the meeting took place, its name changed to "HGP-Write: Testing Large Synthetic Genomes in Cells", which makes more sense given current limitations in DNA synthesis (about 200 base pairs at most), although time is on technology's side. Costs are getting lower: a base pair cost four dollars in 2003, and today it is only three cents. That places a whole human genome at around $90 million today, but in less than two decades it would be on the order of one hundred thousand. What is questioned about all this? The closed doors. The secrecy. The "suggestion" not to speak. Perhaps they did it on purpose, hoping to receive more attention, and potentially more funds. Or perhaps they wanted to prevent exactly what happened, that is, the press bending and mixing information to its liking, saying things like "synthetic humans" or "humans without parents" (two expressions I have avoided for the rest of the article). We all want science to advance, and if there is a need to debate ethics and morals, it will be debated. But the feeling is that a misstep was taken.
