Genome ‘writers’ set their first goal: recoding human cells to resist viruses
Scientists participating in Genome Project-write announced their first target: creating human cells that could never be infected by viruses and might also be resistant to other killers.
Its birth in 2016 was greeted with near hysteria over “secret meetings” and dire warnings about hubristic scientists creating made-from-scratch human genomes and designer babies. Its first birthday was overshadowed by the little matter of falling $99.75 million short of the $100 million fundraising goal it had very publicly set.
But two years in, an ambitious project to synthesize genomes — including human ones — is moving on from its shaky start and plunging in to the practical work of creating better genomes than nature did. As some 200 scientists participating in “Genome Project-write” met in Boston on Tuesday, the group announced its first target: creating cells that could
