News

'Superbabies' Startup Seeks Funds for Controversial Gene Editing Push

By Sophie Alexander and Ike Swetlitz, Bloomberg | 06.25.2025

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.

Bootstrap Bio...

Patents & Other IP

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, obesity, autism, bipolar disorder, even celiac disease. These conditions are informed by many genetic variants and environmental factors - so...

Genetic Selection

Why Deleting Your 23andMe Data Is a Political Imperative

By Katie Sagaser, The DNA Exchange | 05.27.2025

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

U.S. Federal

Trumpian “Common Sense” and the History of IQ Tests

By Pepper Stetler, Los Angeles Review of Books | 05.08.2025

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

This is...

Society
tangle of tree roots

Our Obsession with Ancestry Has Some Twisted Roots

By Maya Jasanoff, The New Yorker | 05.02.2022

A mile into Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon, heading east from Salt Lake City toward the Wasatch ski slopes, several concrete...

U.S. States
3 dna double helixes of 3 different colors

Substituting genetic ancestry for race in research? Not so fast

By Anna C. F. Lewis, STAT | 05.02.2022

Race, widely used as a variable across biomedical research and medicine, is an appropriate proxy for racism — but not...

Genomics
Australian Parliament buildign

Australia Moves Ahead Cautiously With '3-Parent IVF'

By Emily Mullin, Wired | 04.29.2022

Photo by Michael on Unsplash

Australia has become the second country after the United Kingdom to legalize a fertility procedure...

Policies
college lecture hall

Not the full story: Seeking eugenics history in Yale’s science curriculum

By Tigerlily Hopson, Yale News | 04.29.2022

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

According to students and professors, the mark of eugenics has not left campus —...

Public Opinion
Flag of China

China focuses on ethics to deter another ‘CRISPR babies’ scandal

By Smriti Mallapaty, Nature | 04.27.2022

"China Flag" by BWJones is
marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

China’s powerful State Council is calling on research...

Policies
trans flag

Trans men’s eggs have been matured in the lab—and could help them have children

By Jessica Hamzelou, MIT Technology Review | 04.26.2022

Ovaries contain hundreds of thousands of underdeveloped eggs, held in a kind of suspended animation. Each month, one matures and...

Assisted Reproduction
Jennifer Doudna

The scientist who co-created CRISPR isn’t ruling out engineered babies someday

By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 04.26.2022

The day I spoke to Jennifer Doudna was a tough day: the US Patent Office had just ruled against her...

Human Genetic Modification
Harvard locked gates

Harvard pledges $100 million to atone for role in slavery

By Collin Binkley, The Columbian | 04.26.2022

BOSTON — Harvard University is vowing to spend $100 million to research and atone for its extensive ties with slavery...

Bioethics