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

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Russia's CRISPR "Deaf Babies": The Next Genome Editing Frontier?

By Jackie Leach Scully & Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Guest Contributors | 07.09.2019
Biopolitical Times

Editors note: This article was originally published on impactethics.ca and is reposted here with generous permission from Impact Ethics. 

In November 2018, the world learned that a Chinese biophysicist, He Jiankui, had used CRISPR genome editing technology to manipulate the genomes of two children prior to their birth to make them immune to HIV infection. This was followed by almost universal condemnation and calls for a global moratorium. But it was entirely predictable that before too long there would be...

Technologies

CGS Statement on Russian Biologist's Plan to Produce Gene-Edited Babies

By CGS | 06.11.2019
Biopolitical Times

The journal Nature reported yesterday that a scientist in Russia claims he will attempt to produce gene-edited babies using CRISPR technology. Molecular biologist Denis Rebrikov’s stated plan is to disable the CCR5 gene in human embryos and implant them into HIV-positive mothers. Disabling the gene is thought to provide protection against some forms of HIV, but to increase susceptibility to some other infectious diseases.

If he proceeds, Rebrikov will be the second scientist known to engage in the widely condemned...

Technologies

‘Unimaginable Mishap’: Parents Sue CHA Fertility Center Alleging Babies Born Were Not Theirs

By Staff Writer, CBS Los Angeles [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 07.09.2019

Aggregated News

An unidentified New York couple is suing a Los Angeles fertility clinic after they claim the woman gave birth to...

Assisted Reproduction

DNA-testing Firms are Lobbying to Limit Your Right to Genetic Privacy

By David Lazarus , Los Angeles Times | 07.02.2019

Aggregated News

Home DNA testing can be fun. I’ve done it for myself and for my dog. One of us unexpectedly turned...

Genomics

Biopolitical Times

Book Review: 'Superior: The Return of Race Science'

By Pete Shanks | 07.11.2019

The use of modern genetics as a prop for centuries-old racist biases continues despite the best efforts of most scientists....

Eugenics

Russia's CRISPR "Deaf Babies": The Next Genome Editing Frontier?

By Jackie Leach Scully & Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Guest Contributors | 07.09.2019

Editors note: This article was originally published on impactethics.ca and is reposted here with generous permission from Impact Ethics. 

In...

Technologies

Born This Week: Dolly the Sheep

By Pete Shanks | 07.03.2019

A Star is Born

On July 5, 1996, the most famous individual sheep in history was born: Dolly, the first...

Technologies

News

‘Unimaginable Mishap’: Parents Sue CHA Fertility Center Alleging Babies Born Were Not Theirs

By Staff Writer, CBS Los Angeles [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 07.09.2019

An unidentified New York couple is suing a Los Angeles fertility clinic after they claim the woman gave birth to a pair of babies that were not biologically theirs.

The lawsuit claims the Asian American parents were shocked to find...

Assisted Reproduction

'It's Totally Irresponsible': Canadian Ethicist Slams Rogue Russian's Plan to Edit Human Embryos

By Gemma Buck, National Post | 07.08.2019

Canadian bioethicists and genetics experts are speaking out against Denis Rebrikov, the Russian molecular biologist who plans — in defiance of international scientific norms — to alter human embryos using CRISPR gene-editing technology to allow prospective parents with genetic deafness...

Technologies

DNA-collecting Agencies Use Genetic Data for Research

By Isabelle Altman, The Dispatch [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 07.06.2019

A strand of DNA analyzed in a rape kit from 1990 was the key piece of evidence in Starkville Police Department's 28-year-old investigation into the murders of Betty Jones and Kathryn Crigler. 

But until last year, that DNA hadn't matched...

Genomics

Five Couples Lined Up for CRISPR Babies to Avoid Deafness

By Michael Le Page, New Scientist | 07.04.2019

Five Russian couples who are deaf want to try the CRISPR gene-editing technique so they can have a biological child who can hear, biologist Denis Rebrikov has told New Scientist. He plans to apply to the relevant Russian authorities...

Technologies

Video
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