After secret Harvard meeting, scientists announce plans for synthetic human genomes

Three weeks ago, 130 scientists, entrepreneurs and policy leaders held an invitation-only, closed-door meeting at Harvard University to discuss an ambitious plan to create synthetic human genomes. Now...the participants have published their idea, declaring that they're launching a project to radically reduce the cost of synthesizing genomes...that could enable technicians to grow human organs for transplantation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/06/02/after-secret-harvard-meeting-scientists-publish-proposal-to-create-synthetic-human-genomes/

New CRISPR system for targeting RNA

Researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the National Institutes of Health, Rutgers University- New Brunswick and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology have characterized a new CRISPR system that targets RNA, rather than DNA