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Science 10 December 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5447, pp. 2087 - 2090
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5447.2087
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Policy Forum

GENETICS:
Ethical Considerations in Synthesizing a Minimal Genome

Mildred K. Cho,* David Magnus, Arthur L. Caplan,* Daniel McGee, and the Ethics of Genomics Group

Researchers are attempting to model and eventually to create "minimal organisms," organisms with the smallest set of genes that allow for survival and reproduction. Although the ability to create such an organism is beyond current technology, the work of Hutchison et al., reported in this issue, represents an important step in the path toward the creation of such an organism. Here we identify ethical, social, and religious issues raised by this research. Issues discussed include the potential abuse of the technology (biological weapons, environmental problems), as well as the challenge it poses to our conception of the meaning of life.

M. K. Cho is at the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford, CA 94304, USA. M. K. Cho, D. Magnus, and A. L. Caplan are at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. D. McGee is in the Department of Religion, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA. The Ethics of Genomics Group: Robert Aronowitz, Charles Bosk, A. L. Caplan, M. K. Cho, Mary Lynn Dell, M. Susan Lindee, D. Magnus, D. McGee, Glenn McGee, Jon F. Merz, Michael Orsi, Claire Pouncey, Pamela Sankar, Gerald I. Wolpe, and Paul R. Wolpe.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: micho{at}leland.stanford.edu and caplan{at} mail.med.upenn.edu

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