We Can Edit Genomes, Create Synthetic Life, and Remake the World. But Should We?
Friday, September 11, 2015 - 09:30
in Biology & Nature
Blast Docaeby Caption ST. LOUIS — Four years ago, scientists in the Netherlands and the U.S. very carefully created a potentially devastating disease. They made a few mutations to a virulent strain of bird flu that induced it to become airborne and infect mammals, giving scientists a peek into the ways flu might evolve in nature. It launched an international outcry and became the most public display yet of a question that scientists will frequently face in the future: Now that we know how to do this, should we? The future of scientific research may hinge on this question, according to R. Alta Charo, a lawyer and bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who addressed a gathering of bright minds here this week at a DARPA...