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
He Juankui at the second international summit on human genome editing

As creator of ‘CRISPR babies’ nears release from prison, where does embryo editing stand?

By Jon Cohen, Science | 03.21.2022

Biophysicist He Jiankui, having served a 3-year sentence for creating the world’s first genetically engineered babies, may be released from...

Assisted Reproduction
He Jiankui taking questions in 2018

‘We should be prepared’: bioethicists look at how to care for China’s gene-edited babies

By Echo Xie, South China Morning Post | 03.20.2022

Chinese bioethicists are looking at the issues around caring for the world’s first gene-edited babies, and say more needs to...

Other Countries
A destroyed apartment block

“I Just Want To Live”: A Pregnant Surrogate In Ukraine Speaks Out

By Lizzie Cernik and Anastasiia Levchenko, Refinery29 | 03.16.2022

Kharkiv, Ukraine: 13 March, 2022
Photo by Fotoreserg

The day before war broke out in Ukraine, 33-year-old Tanya [...

Assisted Reproduction
a strand of DNA has one side taken out by someone with an editing tool

Genome editing products: FDA recommends at least 15 years of follow-up after clinical trials

By Zachary Brennan, Endpoints News | 03.15.2022

As Intellia recently unveiled its latest promising data around one in a series of potentially game-changing gene therapies, the FDA...

Policies

Juvenile Law Center Announces 2022 Leadership Prize Recipients

By Press Release, Juvenile Law Center | 03.15.2022

Philadelphia, PA (March 15, 2022) – Today, Juvenile Law Center, the nation’s first public interest law firm for children's rights...

Arts & Culture
Africa on a globe

Africa: sequence 100,000 species to safeguard biodiversity

By ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer et al., Nature | 03.15.2022

Image by James Wiseman on Unsplash

Sleeper fish (Bostrychus africanus) are a staple food in West Africa. Harvesting...

Animal Biotechnologies
Françoise Baylis

World‑Renowned Dalhousie Bioethicist and Battery Pioneer Win Prestigious Killam Prize

By Andrew Riley and Caitlyn MacDonald, Dal News | 03.15.2022

Françoise Baylis, photo by XhenetaM,
CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Two of Dalhousie’s leading researchers are being honoured...

Society
lab mouse sitting in a gloved hand

Mice Birthed From Unfertilized Eggs for the First Time

By Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine | 03.14.2022

A team of researchers have successfully raised a mouse into adulthood that was produced from a single unfertilized egg. 

This...

Animal Biotechnologies