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.

Featured

Taking a closer look at recent reporting on gene-edited embryos

By Katie Hasson | 07.11.2026
Biopolitical Times

Media coverage of recent developments in embryo gene editing might seem to suggest that gene-edited babies are close to becoming a reality. As tech billionaires eager to profit off of techno-eugenics invest in “designer baby” technologies, attempts to normalize heritable genome editing – which remains unsafe and raises significant ethical and societal concerns – are especially dangerous. It’s worth taking a closer look at these developments and what they mean, in a way that pushes back on narratives normalizing the...

Genomics

Palantir Has a Hand in NIH’s Most Ambitious Health Initiative

By Julia Métraux, Mother Jones [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 07.07.2026

Aggregated News

During his 2015 State of the Union address, then-President Barack Obama announced what he promised would be an ambitious public health project. “Tonight, I’m launching a new Precision Medicine Initiative to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes...

U.S. Federal

Book Review: How to Rule the World

By Pete Shanks | 07.10.2026
Biopolitical Times

The title of this book is clever, not least because it is borrowed from a very secret society of a...

Patents & Other IP

‘I didn’t come here to get rich’: new research on the lives of Ukrainian women in Georgia’s surrogacy boom

By Olga Oleinikova, Medea Badashvili, and Polina Vlasenko, Guest Contributors | 04.23.2026
Biopolitical Times

“I didn’t come here to get rich. I came because I had no other way to keep my son safe...

Other Countries

Biopolitical Times

Gene therapy trial characterised by hype and hubris ends in a child's death

By Claire Robinson and Jonathan Matthews, Guest Contributors | 08.25.2026

This is an excerpt of an article originally published on August 1, 2026 at GMWatch.

A six-year-old girl has...

U.S. Federal

Taking a closer look at recent reporting on gene-edited embryos

By Katie Hasson | 07.11.2026

Media coverage of recent developments in embryo gene editing might seem to suggest that gene-edited babies are close to becoming...

Genomics

Book Review: How to Rule the World

By Pete Shanks | 07.10.2026

The title of this book is clever, not least because it is borrowed from a very secret society of a...

Patents & Other IP

News

Gene-edited beagles may offer a future option for people with dog allergies

By Adithi Ramakrishnan, AP News | 08.05.2026

NEW YORK (AP) — Matt Walker couldn’t pet a dog without sneezing — until he and other scientists used a gene editing technique to produce a hypoallergenic beagle named Bailey.

Now, he can feed Bailey spoons of peanut butter while...

Animal Biotechnologies

North Dakota fertility doctor sued for secretly using own sperm in treatments

By Sophie Ryall , BioNews | 08.03.2026

A fertility doctor is being sued for using his own sperm during artificial insemination procedures without the patient's knowledge or consent.

Dr Dennis Lutz used his own sperm repeatedly when treating patient Jean Ann Nelson at the Medical Arts Clinic...

Human Genetic Modification

ICE Collected Nearly 1 Million People’s DNA Last Year—Including Young Children

By Dhruv Mehrotra , Wired | 08.03.2026

On March 13, 2025, Hugo Moreno-Mendez arrived at the McLennan County Probation Department in Waco, Texas, expecting a routine probation check-in. Instead, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were waiting to arrest him.

According to a criminal complaint reviewed by WIRED...

Policies

A Florida Surrogate, a Father in China, and the Babies Caught Between

By Katherine Long, Wall Street Journal | 07.31.2026

Kyla Simpson pulled up to the St. Johns County, Fla., sheriff’s office in a black SUV in June with two toddlers in the back seat. She had given birth to them and raised them.

“Mommy loves you, OK?” she said...

U.S. States

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