CGS encourages responsible uses and effecitve governance of human genetic and assisted reproductive technologies

Featured

The First Polygenic Risk Score Baby

By Pete Shanks | 09.30.2021
Biopolitical Times

Screenshot from Genomic Prediction presentation

The first child acknowledged to have been selected as an embryo on the basis of its “polygenic risk score” is now 16 months old. Her parents, at least one of whom is apparently a committed transhumanist, used IVF together with analysis by a company called Genomic Prediction to select one embryo for implantation from among four as having “the best genetic odds of avoiding heart disease, diabetes and cancer in adulthood.” This is a commercial...

Assisted Reproduction

Techno-fantasies of the rich and famous

By Pete Shanks | 09.28.2021
Biopolitical Times
Immortality is having a media moment, for various bad reasons. The most salacious is due to the notorious Aubrey de Grey, fired from the institute he co-founded; the more important explanations are connected to media fascination with several of the world’s wealthiest people who hope to live forever.
U.S. Federal

Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos

By Pete Shanks | 09.15.2021
Biopolitical Times
Kathryn Paige Harden is well on her way to notoriety, or possibly fame, and perhaps riches. A long article about her in the current New Yorker and an interview in The Guardian both promote her book...
Genomics

World Health Organization advisers urge global effort to regulate genome editing

By Megan Molteni, STAT [cites CGS] | 07.12.2021

Aggregated News

On Monday, a World Health Organization advisory committee called on the world’s largest public health authority to stand by the...

Policies

Biopolitical Times

Translating Genes Into Health® — Or Dollars?

By Pete Shanks and Emily Galpern | 10.15.2021

Genetic testing for fun and profit is by now part of the consumer landscape. For less than $100, consumers...

Bioethics

Will Biden’s FDA Chief be Tied to Biotech and Big Pharma?

By Marcy Darnovsky | 10.14.2021

Almost a year after his election and in the midst of a global pandemic, President Biden has not yet nominated...

U.S. Federal

The First Polygenic Risk Score Baby

By Pete Shanks | 09.30.2021

Screenshot from Genomic Prediction presentation

The first child acknowledged to have been selected as an embryo on the basis of...

Assisted Reproduction

News

WHO honors Henrietta Lacks, woman whose cells served science

By Jamey Keaten, Associated Press | 10.13.2021

"Henrietta Lacks" by Crawford Brian is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

The chief of the World Health Organization on Wednesday honored the late Henrietta Lacks, an American woman whose cancer cells were taken without her knowledge during the 1950s and...

Global Governance

Genomes Show the History and Travels of Indigenous Peoples

By Keolu Fox, Scientific American | 10.13.2021

Robert Cudney / CC-BY-SA-4.0

I am the proud descendant of people who, at least 1,000 years ago, made one of the riskiest decisions in human history: to leave behind their homeland and set sail into the world’s largest ocean. As...

Bioethics

California's Multi-Billion Dollar Plan for Spending on Cell and Gene Therapy Is Nearing Completion

By David Jensen, The California Stem Cell Report | 10.11.2021

The 35 directors of the $12 billion California stem cell agency are scheduled to meet next week for a full day and take up matters ranging from conflicts of interest to results from its latest legislatively required performance audit. 

That...

Policies

Heritable human genome editing: Who decides? Science or society?

By Françoise Baylis, Journal of Medical Ethics Blog | 10.11.2021

Many describe the move from bench to bedside (from basic science to therapeutic or preventive applications) as a sprint – a short quick race. Others suggest that the race (such as it is) is more like hurdles given the many...

Human Genetic Modification

Video
A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics in America
Use Gene Editing to Treat Patients, Not Design Babies
CRISPR: What is the future of gene editing? | Start Here