CGS in the News

The quest to create gene-edited babies gets a reboot

By Rob Stein, NPR [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 08.06.2025

A Chinese scientist horrified the world in 2018 when he revealed he had secretly engineered the birth of the world's first gene-edited babies.

His work was reviled as reckless and unethical because, among other reasons, gene-editing was so new...

Genetic Selection

Can doctors test embryos for autism? And should they?

By Brittany Luse, Liam McBain, and Neena Pathak, NPR [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.28.2025

A newly available kind of genetic testing, called polygenic embryo screening, promises to screen for conditions that can include cancer...

Genetic Selection

a magnifying glass shows a strand of DNA in front of a background of multicolored squares

“Gattaca” and the Ethics of Genetic Selection

By David K. Johnson, The Great Courses Daily [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 09.19.2021

The film Gattaca is set in a world in which gene manipulation is common. When parents decide to have children...

Genetic Selection

Should we edit human embryos' genomes, and if so then how?

By Dieter Egli, BioNews [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 07.12.2021

I recently received a thoughtful letter from a college student I do not know – I'll call her Claudia* –...

Human Genetic Modification

World Health Organization advisers urge global effort to regulate genome editing

By Megan Molteni, STAT [cites CGS] | 07.12.2021

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

Policies

a scientist doing lab research in a sterile environment

Expanding Biolab Complex in Berkeley Has Residents Worried

By Sharon Lerner, Lee Fang, The Intercept [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 06.09.2021

The Bayer Corporation has made it clear that the creation of a biological research facility on its waterfront property in Berkeley, California, will...

Bioethics

Change may allow scientists to grow human embryos longer

By Maria Cheng, Associated Press [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 05.26.2021

New guidelines released Wednesday remove a decades-old barrier to stem cell research, recommending that researchers be allowed to grow human...

Human Genetic Modification

Should scientists be allowed to grow human embryos in a dish beyond 14 days? Is it scientifically important or morally wrong?

By Karen Weintraub, USA Today [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 05.02.2021

For more than 30 years, scientists have followed a rule they imposed on themselves to avoid growing a human embryo in...

Society

Bayer plots big cell therapy building as master plan for Berkeley site moves forward

By Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 04.22.2021

Human Genetic Modification

She Gave Birth To Her Own Children, Then A Michigan Judge Ruled Her To Be A Surrogate

By Ellen Trachman, Above the Law [cites CGS] | 04.07.2021

A lot of surprising things happen when the use of assisted reproductive technology slams up against outdated family law doctrines...

U.S. States