Synthesized DNA and the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues

Today, scientists reported they had, for the first time, replaced all of the natural DNA inside a cell with laboratory-synthesized DNA that was copied from a natural blueprint -- the DNA of a naturally occurring bacterium closely related to the one into which the synthetic DNA was inserted.

In response to this development, which holds promise in a number of scientific fields but also raises potential societal or ethical concerns, the President called upon his recently-created Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to consider the implications of the advance and report back to him within six months.

• Read the letter from the President to Amy Gutmann, chair of the Commission (pdf).

John P. Holdren is Assistant to the President for Science and Technology