Scientists launch proposal to create synthetic human genome

Twenty years after scientists learned to 'read' the human genome, scientists are hoping to write their own synthetic version of the DNA recipe for life

Two decades ago we learned to "read" the human genome - the entire three-billion-letter DNA recipe for life coiled in the human chromosomes. Now scientists want to start writing it.

A $100 million global consortium has been proposed, to devise ways to assemble human DNA in the laboratory so as to better understand how it works, and look for new ways of treating disease and saving lives.