{"id":6766,"date":"2025-07-07T11:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T11:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=6766"},"modified":"2025-07-07T11:35:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T11:35:00","slug":"a-new-future-for-dna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=6766","title":{"rendered":"A New Future for DNA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/div>\n

By KIM BELLARD<\/p>\n

As a DNA-based creature myself, I\u2019m always fascinated by DNA\u2019s remarkable capabilities. Not just all the ways that life has found to use it, but our ability to find new ways to take advantage of them. I\u2019ve written about DNA as a storage medium<\/a>, as a neural network<\/a>, as a computer<\/a>, in a robot<\/a>, even mirror DNA<\/a>. So when I read about the Synthetic Human Genome (SynHG) project<\/a>, last month, I was thrilled. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The project was announced<\/a>, and is being funded, by the Wellcome Trust, to the tune of \u00a310 million pounds over five years. Its goal is \u201cto develop the foundational tools, technology and methods to enable researchers to one day synthesise genomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s website elaborates:<\/p>\n

Through programmable synthesis of genetic material we will unlock a deeper understanding of life, leading to profound impacts on biotechnology, potentially accelerating the development of safe, targeted, cell-based therapies, and opening entire new fields of research in human health. Achieving reliable genome design and synthesis \u2013 i.e. engineering cells to have specific functions \u2013 will be a major milestone in modern biology.<\/p>\n

The goal of the current project isn\u2019t to build a full synthetic genome, which they believe may take decades, but \u201cto provide proof of concept for large genome synthesis by creating a fully synthetic human chromosome.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a bigger deal than you might realize.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur DNA determines who we are and how our bodies work,\u201d says Michael Dunn, Director of Discovery Research at Wellcome. \u201cWith recent technological advances, the SynHG project is at the forefront of one of the most exciting areas of scientific research.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The project is led by Professor Jason Chin<\/a> from the Generative Biology Institute at Ellison Institute of Technology and the University of Oxford, who says: \u201cThe ability to synthesize large genomes, including genomes for human cells, may transform our understanding of genome biology and profoundly alter the horizons of biotechnology and medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further told The Guardian<\/em><\/a>: \u201cThe information gained from synthesising human genomes may be directly useful in generating treatments for almost any disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Patrick Yizhi Cai, Chair of Synthetic Genomics at the University of Manchester boasted: \u201cWe are leveraging cutting-edge generative AI and advanced robotic assembly technologies to revolutionize synthetic mammalian chromosome engineering. Our innovative approach aims to develop transformative solutions for the pressing societal challenges of our time, creating a more sustainable and healthier future for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Project member Dr Julian Sale, of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, told BBC News<\/em><\/a> the research was the next giant leap in biology: \u201cThe sky is the limit. We are looking at therapies that will improve people\u2019s lives as they age, that will lead to healthier aging with less disease as they get older. We are looking to use this approach to generate disease-resistant cells we can use to repopulate damaged organs, for example in the liver and the heart, even the immune system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consider me impressed.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Matthew Hurles, director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, explained to BBC News<\/em> the advantage of synthesizing DNA: \u201cBuilding DNA from scratch allows us to test out how DNA really works and test out new theories, because currently we can only really do that by tweaking DNA in DNA that already exists in living systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s mind-blowing to think about the potential benefits that could come of this work, but the potential risks are equally consequential. Designer babies, enhanced humans, hybrids with other animals \u2013 synthetic DNA might accommodate all those and more. The sky is the limit indeed.<\/p>\n

The project leaders are aware that there are important ethical considerations in such work, and so are including a companion social science program, called Care-full Synthesis, that is being led by Professor Joy Zhang from the Centre for Global Science and Epistemic Justice at the University of Kent.\u00a0It plans to undertake a \u201ctransdisciplinary and transcultural investigation into the socio-ethical, economic, and policy implications of synthesising human genomes,\u201d placing particular emphasis on \u201cfostering inclusivity within and across nation-states, while engaging emerging public\u2013private partnerships and new interest groups.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Care-full Synthesis, through empirical studies across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Americas, we aim to establish a new paradigm for accountable scientific and innovative practices in the global age,\u201d says Professor Zhang. \u201cOne that explores the full potential of synthesising technical possibilities and diverse socio-ethical perspectives with care.\u201d<\/p>\n

That may prove to be a harder task that synthesizing a human chromosome.<\/p>\n

SynHG is not the only project looking at synthetic DNA; it is a technology whose time is coming. Does anyone think that researchers in China aren\u2019t working on this? Does anyone think they\u2019re equally looking at the ethical considerations? Or maybe the next breakthrough will be some U.S start-up, that is gambling big on a use for synthetic DNA and would be expecting a unicorn-level return.<\/p>\n

Professor Bill Earnshaw, a genetic scientist at Edinburgh University, warned BBC News<\/em>: \u201cThe genie is out of the bottle. We could have a set of restrictions now, but if an organisation who has access to appropriate machinery decided to start synthesising anything, I don\u2019t think we could stop them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Wellcome\u2019s Dr. Tom Collins, who greenlit the funding, told BBC News<\/em>: \u201cWe asked ourselves what was the cost of inaction. This technology is going to be developed one day, so by doing it now we are at least trying to do it in as responsible a way as possible and to confront the ethical and moral questions in as upfront way as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kudos to Wellcome for building these considerations into the project. They\u2019d be considered too woke in the U.S. And kudos for acknowledging the costs of inaction, which many policymakers in the U.S. and elsewhere fail to recognize.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve made remarkable progress on DNA in my lifetime. When I was born, it had just been discovered. The Human Genome Project<\/a> launched in 1990 and the first sequence of the human genome by 2003. The CRISPR revolution<\/a> \u2013 allowing gene editing \u2014 started in 2012, and we\u2019re now doing personalized gene editing therapy<\/a>. \u00a0\u201cRemarkable\u201d is too mild a word.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s still so much we don\u2019t know. We don\u2019t always know when\/why genes turn on\/off. We still have a very imperfect understanding of which diseases are genetic and which genes cause them, under what circumstances. And, for heaven\u2019s sake, what is all that \u201cjunk DNA\u201d doing? Is it just left over from evolution doing its long kludge towards survival, or does it carry some importance we haven\u2019t learned yet? \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those are the kinds of things SynHG might help us better understand, and I can\u2019t wait to see what it finds out.<\/p>\n

Kim is a former emarketing exec at a major Blues plan, editor of the late & lamented Tincture.io<\/a>, and now regular THCB contributor<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By KIM BELLARD As a DNA-based creature myself, I\u2019m always fascinated by DNA\u2019s remarkable capabilities. Not just all the ways that life has found to use it, but our ability to find new ways to take advantage of them. I\u2019ve written about DNA as a storage medium, as a neural network, as a computer, in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}