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A California-startup focused on genetically editing human embryos — a step toward creating so-called designer babies — is raising money as many of Silicon Valley’s ultra-rich turn their attention to one of the most controversial technologies in medicine.

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A newly available kind of genetic testing, called polygenic embryo screening, promises to screen for conditions that can include cancer, obesity, autism, bipolar disorder, even celiac disease. These conditions are informed by many genetic variants and environmental factors - so...

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this piece are solely my own and do not represent those of my...

"Donald Trump Signs The Pledge" by Michael Vadon 
is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

This is...

a person administering a COVID test
By Joanna Thompson, Scientific American | 05.18.2022

Imagine taking a genetic test that could tell you your personal risk of developing complications and dying from a particular...

Dust jacket of the 1920 book The Rising Tide of Color
By Tanvi Misra, Harper's Bazaar | 05.18.2022

The Rising Tide of Color: The Threat Against
White World-Supremacy
 (1920), by Lothrop Stoddard

On rereading The Great Gatsby earlier...

Surgeon in blue scrubs reaching for surgical tools laid on a blue surface
By Gina Kolata, The New York Times | 05.17.2022

Transplant specialists, when evaluating kidneys that come from donors, try to work out how likely it is that the kidney...

a black woman
By Gina Kolata, The New York Times | 05.17.2022

In a Zoom call this spring with 19 leaders of A.M.E. Zion church congregations in North Carolina, Dr. Opeyemi Olabisi...

LGBTQ+ Pride Flag
By Shira Stein, Bloomberg Law | 05.17.2022

Photo by Cecilie Johnsen on Unsplash

The Biden administration is considering a requirement that some health plans cover fertility treatment...

Blue outline of human brain against blue electric circuitboards
By Melissa Heikkilä, MIT Technology Review | 05.13.2022

It’s a Wild West out there for artificial intelligence. AI applications are increasingly used to make important decisions about humans’...

Doctor in white coat writing on a clipboard on a table next to an infant dressed in blue and a stethoscope
By Staff, The Economist | 05.13.2022

Over the years, doctors have described more than 7,000 rare diseases, generally defined as those affecting fewer than one in...

fertilizing an egg in vitro
By Ariana Eunjung Cha and Emily Wax-Thibodeaux , The Washington Post | 05.11.2022

After numerous rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF), Genevieve Pearson Adair was excited to have 18 fertilized eggs. But it...