The Center for Genetics and Society brings social justice and human rights to the center of public and policy discussions about human genetics and assisted reproduction.

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Sociogenomics and Polygenic Scores

By Peter Wehling, Tino Plümecke, and Isabelle Bartram | 03.26.2025
Biopolitical Times

This article was originally published as “Soziogenomik und polygene Scores” in issue 272 (February 2025) of the German-language journal Gen-ethischer Informationsdienst (GID); translated by the authors.

In mid-November 2024, the British organization Hope not Hate published its investigative research ‘Inside the Eugenics Revival’. In addition to documentating an active international “race research” network, the investigation also brought to light the existence of a US start-up that offers eugenic embryo selection. Heliospect Genomics aims to enable wealthy couples to...

Genetic Selection

23andMe’s DNA database is up for sale. Who might want it, and what for?

By Anumita Kaur [cites CGS’ Katie Hasson], The Washington Post | 03.25.2025

Aggregated News

Genetic information company 23andMe has said that it is headed to bankruptcy court, raising questions for what happens to the DNA shared by millions of people with the company via saliva test kits.

Sunday’s announcement clears the way for a new...

Genomics

On Woolly Mice, Resurrecting Mammoths, and Tech Bros

By Pete Shanks | 03.17.2025
Biopolitical Times

Riquet Mammoth Kakao (c.1920) 
by Ludwig Hohlwein, Public Domain via Flickr

Colossal, the de-extinction company, scored headlines (1...

Animal Biotechnologies

Should We Use Gene Editing to Create Super Babies?

By Staff [cites CGS' Katie Hasson], The New York Times Upfront | 02.17.2025

Aggregated News

A young couple wants to have a baby, but they’re worried it’ll carry a disease that runs in the family...

Bioethics

Biopolitical Times

How Much Do (Human) Eggs Really Cost?

By Emma McDonald Kennedy | 04.24.2025

A Review of Eggonomics: The Global Market in Human Eggs and the Donors Who Supply Them by Diane M. Tober

...
U.S. Federal

A Deeper Dive Into the Colossal Furor

By Pete Shanks | 04.23.2025

Gray wolf by Jessica Eirich via Unsplash

“I’m not a scarcity guy, I’m an abundance guy”
– Colossal co-founder and CEO...

Animal Biotechnologies

Sociogenomics and Polygenic Scores

By Peter Wehling, Tino Plümecke, and Isabelle Bartram | 03.26.2025

This article was originally published as “Soziogenomik und polygene Scores” in issue 272 (February 2025) of the German-language journal Gen-ethischer...

Genetic Selection

News

A.I. Is Getting More Powerful, but Its Hallucinations Are Getting Worse

By Cade Metz and Karen Weise, The New York Times | 05.05.2025

Last month, an A.I. bot that handles tech support for Cursor, an up-and-coming tool for computer programmers, alerted several customers about a change in company policy. It said they were no longer allowed to use Cursor on more than...

Patents & Other IP

Maga’s era of ‘soft eugenics’: let the weak get sick, help the clever breed

By Derek Beres, The Guardian | 05.04.2025

English polymath Francis Galton formulated the concept of eugenics in 1883. Inspired by animal breeding, Galton encouraged people with “desirable” traits to procreate while discouraging or preventing those with “undesirable” traits from doing the same. As social and intellectual qualities...

Society

Spain bans its embassies from registering babies born through surrogacy

By Aitor Hernandez-Morales, Politico | 04.30.2025

Flag of Spain, public domain via wikimedia commons

The Spanish government is banning its embassies and consulates from registering children born through surrogates in foreign countries.

Regulations set to go into effect on Thursday cancel all pending registration processes and...

Policies

Genetic medicine can leave people with rare mutations behind. But there’s new hope

By Laura Ungar, Associated Press | 04.26.2025

Emily Kramer-Golinkoff can’t get enough oxygen with each breath. Advanced cystic fibrosis makes even simple things like walking or showering arduous and exhausting.

She has the most common fatal genetic disease in the U.S., which afflicts 40,000 Americans. But her...

Human Genetic Modification

Video
Reproduction and Family Formation: The State and the Market
Use Gene Editing to Make Better Babies | Debate | Intelligence Squared U.S.
The 'Perfect' Baby?: The Dangers of Gene Editing in Assisted Reproduction