Dec 27, 2022
Experts Debate the Risks of Made-to-Order DNA
Posted by Jose Ruben Rodriguez Fuentes in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry
In November 2016, virologist David Evans traveled to Geneva for a meeting of a World Health Organization committee on smallpox research. The deadly virus had been declared eradicated 36 years earlier; the only known live samples of smallpox were in the custody of the United States and Russian governments.
Evans, though, had a striking announcement: Months before the meeting, he and a colleague had created a close relative of smallpox virus, effectively from scratch, at their laboratory in Canada. In a subsequent report, the WHO wrote that the team’s method “did not require exceptional biochemical knowledge or skills, significant funds, or significant time.”
Continue reading “Experts Debate the Risks of Made-to-Order DNA” »