To the Point
The quest for synthetic humans
Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996, but no human being has ever been duplicated. Now there's the possibility of creating a human from scratch. Genetic scientists have already mapped the human genome, opening the possibility of eliminating disease.
Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996, but no human being has ever been duplicated. Now there's the possibility of creating a human from scratch. Genetic scientists have already mapped the human genome, opening the possibility of eliminating disease. A Harvard geneticist is raising money to manufacture a human genome with the potential of creating a synthetic person who has no parents. We talk with him and others — including fellow scientists — who raise ethical and religious objections that he's going too far too fast.