An ambitious project funded by the Wellcome Trust medical charity in the UK is aiming to develop the tools needed to synthesise human genomes, with the promise of accelerating the development of new cell-based therapies.
The Synthetic Human Genome (SynHG) Project, launched on the 25th anniversary of the mapping of the human genome, is being launched with £10 million (nearly $14 million) in initial funding over five years and a promise that there will be no attempt to create synthetic life.
The aim of the project is to move beyond gene editing, where existing DNA sequences are modified, toward the construction of large blocks of human DNA and, potentially at least, entire chromosomes, although the SynHG scientists acknowledge that could take decades to achieve.
That will require a level of understanding that goes far beyond current knowledge, which is limited mostly to the sequences in the genome that code for proteins while the gaps in between – once dismissed as 'junk' DNA – remain largely unexplored.
The potential has, however, sparked concerns about misuse of the approaches by unscrupulous scientists, as occurred a few years ago when Chinese doctor He Jiankui genetically modified human babies using gene-editing techniques to protect them from HIV, sparking a backlash from the scientific community and earning him a prison sentence.
Recognising the potential for controversy, the team behind the project – which is led by Prof Jason Chin of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology – includes social scientists who will work with civil society groups around the world to "explore, assess, and respond to the socio-ethical implications" of the tools and technologies that will be developed.
That side of the project – dubbed Care-full Synthesis – will be led by Prof Joy Zhang of the Centre for Global Science and Epistemic Justice at the University of Kent.
"The ability to synthesise large genomes, including genomes for human cells, may transform our understanding of genome biology and profoundly alter the horizons of biotechnology and medicine," said Prof Chin.
That could include deepening understanding of cellular processes in health and disease, developing ways to more efficiently express gene products that have biomedical value, and working out how to develop novel gene-directed medicines.
"With SynHG we are building the tools to make large genome synthesis a reality, and at the same time we are proactively engaging in the social, ethical, economic, and policy questions that may arise as the tools and technologies advance."
Prof Robin Lovell-Badge of the Francis Crick Institute said he was "enthusiastic" about the project because it marries the investigation of new tools and techniques with a consideration of "safety and risk and, very importantly, the societal values on which it may impinge."
This is important to "judge where the research needs particularly tight scrutiny and to define under what conditions even some experiments deemed to be of high risk might proceed or whether they should be prohibited outright for being far too dangerous," he added.
If synthetic chromosomes or cells were to result from the project, "I would urge incorporating an inducible genetic kill switch to eliminate them from any location in the body or at least to make them easy for the immune system find and destroy," said Prof Lovell-Badge.
https://pharmaphorum.com/news/controversial-project-aims-make-artificial-human-genomes
