Letter to the Editor: Popsicle Politics
By Marcy Darnovsky,
Mother Jones
| 08. 31. 2006
Both "Breeder Reaction" and "Souls on Ice" begin to tackle the profound issues and difficult questions raised by new human biotechnologies: How do we take reproductive and genetic technologies out of the free-market realm of anything-goes-for-those-who-can-pay, while making sure that we protect reproductive rights? How do we reap the potential benefits of human biotech, while making sure that we're not on the road either to a brave new world of designer babies or to ever greater health inequities because of hugely expensive designer medicine?
A number of countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, have put in place comprehensive policies to regulate assisted reproduction and research that involves human embryos. But not the United States—here again, we're a Wild West, with scant public oversight.
Related Articles
By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Emily Galpern] | 03.29.2026
More Americans are turning to surrogacy to build their families, as the practice becomes more common and more publicly discussed.
Why it matters: As surrogacy becomes more visible and accessible, ethical, legal and cultural tensions become harder to ignore...
By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Surrogacy360] | 03.29.2026
Without a federal law, surrogacy in the U.S. is governed by a patchwork of state regulations/
Why it matters: Confusing, varied local rules can determine everything from whether agreements are legally binding to who is recognized as a parent at...
By Judd Boaz and Elise Kinsella, ABC News | 03.17.2026
By Ryan Cross, Endpoints News | 03.24.2026
Cathy Tie has an audacity more typical of a tech startup founder than a biotech executive. She dropped out of college to start a genetic screening company and later founded a telemedicine startup. The 29-year-old has been on two Forbes...