Nature Medicine | Spoonful of Medicine

Synthetic genome sparks ideas for medicine

The science world is buzzing today over a study in Science, announcing the successful creation of an entirely synthetic genome. Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland inserted a complete DNA sequence into an emptied bacterial cell to form what some are calling artificial life. While the implications for genetics, evolution, and the very philosophy of life are already garnering debate, medicine might also enter the fray. The proper use of this new technology could yield, for example, therapeutic bacteria. University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Arthur Caplan comments on MSNBC that synthetic bacteria could be created to go 

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