From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

The quest for synthetic humans.

Hello again, I'm R. and Alany, and this is a special rebroadcast of To the Point.

Dolly the Sheep was cloned in 1996, but no human being has ever been duplicated.

Now there's the possibility of creating a human from scratch. Genetic scientists have already mapped the human genome,

opening the possibility of eliminating disease. This year, a Harvard geneticist started raising

money to manufacture a human genome

with the potential of creating a synthetic person with no parents. We'll talk with him and

others, including fellow scientists, who raise ethical and religious objections that he's going

too far, too fast. Today's talking point, how virtual reality is allowing full-body journalism.

First, the news.

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Hello again, we're on Al-Nabak with a special rebroadcast of To the Point. Creating synthetic humans sounds like science fiction, but genetic science has advanced so fast that the possibility took a major step forward in 2016.

We'll talk with the geneticist who is leading the way, and we'll hear about ethical and religious

objections. Today's talking point, full-body journalism, the wave of the future for immersing

the audience in the story. It's an application of virtual reality that's now accessible in your own home.

I'll talk with a pioneer in the field. First, here's this news update from Barbara Bogueve.

Thanks, Warren. Next month, when Congress returns and President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in,

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