Mix'n'Match and Drag'n'Drop

An Israeli startup aims to "allows a user to design bespoke DNA which can then be used to create new organisms," reports The Wall Street Journal.

The startup, called Genome Compiler, offers "a drag-and-drop genome construction tool, like computer aided design for genes," the Journal says, which would allow users to design synthetic genomes. The company was founded by Omri Amirav-Drory, a former Fulbright scholar who earned his PhD at Tel Aviv University.

"To create your own new life form, you start a new project and then import an existing genome either from those built in to the app, or download from the world’s open-source genome banks," the Journal says. "Then it is just a question of adding constituent parts from other genomes until you have built the string you want."