Looking Back a Decade

The Center for Genetics and Society has been active for about a decade, and at the start of a new one it seems appropriate to take a look back. This is by no means a complete history, but a series of pointers that make a very broad-brush look at the last ten years.

Much more about everything mentioned can be found by searching the website, in addition to the links provided.

2000

• Announcement of the draft sequence of the human genome
• Controversy over the 1999 death of Jesse Gelsinger following a gene therapy experiment
• Bill Joy cites dangers of genetic engineering, nanotech & robotics in Wired
• Council for Responsible Genetics issues "Genetic Bill of Rights"
• CGS strategy meetings, briefings and sign-on letter, "Say No to Human Germline Engineering," for Asilomar Symposium on Science, Ethics and Society

2001

• Genetic Savings and Clone tries to launch pet-cloning industry, after the first cloned cat
• ACT falsely claims to have created the first clonal human embryo
• President Bush permits federal funds for research on existing stem cell lines only; establishes Bioethics Commission chaired by Leon Kass
• Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine enters into force, banning inheritable genetic modification, human reproductive cloning and research cloning, and regulating other human biotechnologies
• CGS formally established; joins with Global Lawyers & Physicians and others to organize the Beyond Cloning conference at Boston University

2002

• Cloning hoaxes hit the headlines: Raelians, Antinori, Zavos
• United Nations launches process for international convention to ban human cloning; U.S. Senate deadlocked on cloning; California bans reproductive cloning, allows cloning-based stem cell research
• World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA, originally set up by the International Olympic Committee) bans gene doping
• Craig Venter announces intention to create first artificial life
• CGS website goes online, first op-eds published; sign-on letter to U.S. Senators on cloning legislation with 100+ liberal and progressive leaders; open letter on sex selection to American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which soon revised its position; briefings for press, UN delegates, NGOs; World Watch magazine special issue on human biotech, guest-edited by CGS

2003

• First cloned mules, horses, deer, rats; first genetically modified animal to be sold as a pet, the "Glofish"
• Gene therapy trials cause leukemia in French children
• Sperm and eggs derived from mouse embryonic stem cells
• Spread of commercial advertisements for sex selection
• CGS briefings and meetings in U.S., Paris, Brussels, Strasbourg, Bonn, Berlin, Geneva, Zurich [pdf]; co-sponsors major international conference Within and Beyond the Limits of Human Nature, in Berlin with Heinrich Boell Foundation, IMEW

2004

• In Korea, Hwang Woo Suk claims to have created clonal human embryos, and later to have derived stem cells from them; California voters approve Proposition 71 to fund stem cell research
• Mice genetically modified for increased muscle mass
• Canada enacts Assisted Human Reproduction Law, regulating research and clinical applications involving human eggs, sperm and embryos, and prohibiting the creation of new embryos for research, including cloning; UK authority officially allows the creation of "savior siblings" to act as donors for children suffering from certain diseases
• First Synthetic Biology conference held at MIT
• CGS presents at World Social Forum in Mumbai and at World Congress of Bioethics, in Sydney, Australia [pdf]; with the Committee on Women, Population and the Environment and Our Bodies Ourselves, co-sponsors conference on Gender, Justice and the Gene Age, NYC; issues critical analysis of California's stem cell initiative; organizes symposia with the Century Foundation and the City University of New York; launches Gender, Justice and Human Genetics program [pdf]

2005

• Korean cloning claims found to be fabricated; Hwang Woo Suk eventually disgraced amid scandal of false data, embezzlement, & improper egg acquisition
• First cloned dog (Korea), face transplant (France)
• Human embryonic stem cell research remains a significant political topic, with policy debates in numerous jurisdictions
• U.N. ends debate on human cloning treaty with inconclusive non-binding resolution
• CGS holds meetings and briefings in U.S., Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India and Thailand [pdf]; puts public pressure on California stem cell institute, resulting in greater transparency and accountability; receives "Local Heroes" award [pdf] from San Francisco Bay Guardian

2006

• Survey finds almost half of U.S. fertility clinics offer non-medical sex selection
• First scientific meetings on the risks of providing eggs for research; California approves bill protecting women egg donors, following advocacy by CGS and the Pro-Choice Alliance for Responsible Research
  
• Media attention to Synthetic Biology; researchers call for self-governance; civil society protests
• President Bush vetoes Castle-DeGette bill to expand the number of stem-cell lines available for federally funded research
• CGS publishes The California Stem Cell Program at One Year: A Progress Report [pdf]; Century Foundation publishes Stem Cells and Public Policy [pdf], by CGS staff; continued briefings and workshops, in U.S. and Korea, many with focus on gender and justice [pdf]; CGS blog, Biopolitical Times, goes online

2007

• Craig Venter announces replacement of bacterial genome, key step towards artificial life, files patent
• California issues first U.S. public funding of cloning-based stem cell research; Harvard unable to get women to provide eggs for similar research
• Genes for skin color identified and proposed for general use by consumers; egg freezing increasingly available and promoted, despite medical concerns; Texas fertility center offers "custom designed" embryos; new at-home tests allow expectant mother to determine sex of future child at six weeks
• 23andMe set to offer complete personal genomic sequencing, Google invests; launch of direct-to-consumer ads for genetic tests
• CGS conducts briefings in D.C., Amsterdam, South Africa [pdf]; hosts Harvard professor Michael Sandel, author of The Case Against Perfection, at events in Berkeley; roundtable discussions with disability rights and reproductive rights leaders; strong CGS response to iPS announcements: several op-eds, press citations, TV & radio interviews, letters; new website launched

2008

• Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) signed into law in U.S.; consumer genetic testing companies face regulators in California, New York
• Improvements in producing stem cells via reprogramming; Ian Wilmut quits cloning-based stem cell research; first clonal human embryo, first genetically modified human embryo and first animal-human cytoplasmic hybrid embryo
• Reports that IVF greatly increases birth defects, and fertility drugs increase cancer risk; first ovary transplant; eggs grown from five-year-old girls' ovarian tissue; egg freezing becomes more widely available; push for payments for eggs for stem cell research in California, Singapore
• U.S. federal government expands collection of DNA to all people arrested for federal crimes and immigration charges; European court rules against UK DNA database
• CGS's Gender and Justice program becomes an independent organization, Generations Ahead; CGS testifies at U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade hearing on international regulation of human biotech; invited to meet with members of the Obama transition team in Washington DC; co-publishes Geneticizing Disease: Implications for Racial Health Disparities with Center for American Progress; holds invitational strategy sessions in Washington, New York, Cambridge, San Francisco and Berkeley; op-eds, TV/radio interviews, and citations in major media outlets on many issues; BioPolicy Wiki launched, compiling laws on eight biotechnology practices and positions on five international conventions in 194 countries

2009

• The birth of the only fully surviving set of octuplets triggers unprecedented criticism, and calls for regulation of assisted reproduction; an offer ofpre-pregnancy genetic selection for hair, skin and eye color is discontinued after CGS condemns it
  
• President Obama expands federal funding for stem cell research, draws line at research cloning and chimeras, and condemns reproductive cloning, saying  it "has no place in our society, or any society"
• DNA databases become increasingly controversial, but continue to expand
• The ACLU and the Public Patent Foundation filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of human gene patents; CGS and others filed an amicus brief in support, as did many other groups
• CGS published Playing the Gene Card? a report on race-specific drugs, genetic ancestry tests and DNA forensics; submitted Responsible Federal Oversight of the New Human Biotechnologies to the new administration; published numerous op-eds and major articles; and began an active and continuing round of consultations with other activists and interested parties about possible directions for the next decade