16 hours agoShareSavePallab GhoshGwyndaf HughesScience VideographerShareSaveWork has begun on a controversial project to create the building blocks of human life from scratch, in what is believed to be a world first.The research has been taboo until now because of concerns it could lead to designer babies or unforeseen changes for future generations.But now the World’s largest medical charity, the Wellcome Trust, has given an initial £10m to start the project and says it has the potential to do more good than harm by accelerating treatments for many incurable diseases.Dr Julian Sale, of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, who is part of the project, told BBC News the research was the next giant leap in biology.”The sky is the limit. We are looking at therapies that will improve people’s 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,” he said.But critics fear the research opens the way for unscrupulous researchers seeking to create enhanced or modified humans.Dr Pat Thomas, director of the campaign group Beyond GM, said: “We like to think that all scientists are there to do good, but the science can be repurposed to do harm and for warfare”.Details of the project were given to BBC News on the 25th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project, which mapped the molecules in human DNA and was also largely funded by Wellcome.BBC NewsThe project’s work will be confined to test tubes and dishes and there will be no attempt to create synthetic life. But the technology will give researchers unprecedented control over human living systems.And although the project is hunting for medical benefits, there is nothing to stop unscrupulous scientists misusing the technology. They could, for example, attempt to create biological weapons, enhanced humans or even creatures that have human DNA, according to Prof Bill Earnshaw, a highly respected genetic scientist at Edinburgh University who designed a method for creating artificial human chromosomes.”The genie is out of the bottle,” he told BBC News. “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’t think we could stop them”Ms Thomas is concerned about how the technology will be commercialised by healthcare companies developing treatments emerging from the research …
