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

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

Stumbling Toward the End of an Era

By Pete Shanks | 03.25.2025

After almost 20 years of publicity stunts and dubious claims, we may not have 23andMe to kick around anymore. The...

Patents & Other IP

On Woolly Mice, Resurrecting Mammoths, and Tech Bros

By Pete Shanks | 03.17.2025

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

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

Animal Biotechnologies

News

Chinese Scientist Ostracized Over Gene-Edited Babies Seeks Comeback

By Liyan Qi and Jonathan Cheng, The Wall Street Journal | 03.26.2025

photo via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 3.0

Chinese scientist He Jiankui set off global outrage and landed in prison after he skirted ethical guidelines and claimed he had produced genetically modified babies designed to resist HIV infection. 

Now, the self-styled ...

Other Countries

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

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

Ethically sourced “spare” human bodies could revolutionize medicine

By Carsten T. Charlesworth, Henry T. Greely, and Hiromitsu Nakauchi, MIT Technology Review | 03.25.2025

Why do we hear about medical breakthroughs in mice, but rarely see them translate into cures for human disease? Why do so few drugs that enter clinical trials receive regulatory approval? And why is the waiting list for organ transplantation...

Society

What Do We Owe This Cluster of Cells?

By Anna Louie Sussman, The New York Times | 03.25.2025

On June 24, 2022, the same day the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, I received a call from the fertility clinic where I’d been undergoing in vitro fertilization, informing me that seven of...

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