A Human Genome Synthesis Project: he Crazy Constructive Science of BBC America’s Orphan Black Rebecca Wilbanks Johns Hopkins University from reading to writing M ay 10, 2016, harvard university: over one hundred professionals involved with the ield of synthet ic biology, representing both industry and academia (but no jour- nalists) walk into a room. hey are t here to discuss an initiative that they analo- gize to the Human Genome Project (HGP), the international scienti ic collaborat ion to map the sequence of nucleotides that constitute human genetic inheritance. At the turn of the mil- lennium, the HGP culminated in a joint announcement by President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair—joined by Francis Collins of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Craig Venter of the Celera Genomics Corporation—celebrating what Clinton called the “most wondrous map ever produced by humankind.” 1 he advance was heralded with promises of fantastic advances in health and human wellbeing. With rhetorical lourish, Clinton speculated, “our children’s children will know the term cancer only as a constellation of stars.” 2 While the 2000 meeting celebrated the “reading” of the genetic code, participants at the 2016 meeting aimed to lay the groundwork for what has variously been called HGP2, the Human Genome Synthesis Project, and HGP-write: the chemical synthesis and joining together of the 1 “June 2000 White House Event.” National Human Genome Research Institute. (NHGRI). Accessed July 21, 2017. htps://www.genome.gov/10001356/June-2000-White-House-Event. 2 “June 2000 White House Event,” National Human Genome Research Institute.