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...

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...

Buildings in Kyiv Ukraine

In a Kyiv Basement, 19 Surrogate Babies Are Trapped by War but Kept Alive by Nannies

By Andrew E. Kramer and Maria Varenikova, The New York Times | 03.12.2022

^{CC0 / Public Domain License. Image Info}

Down a dusty stairwell, hidden from the shelling that has become the grim...

Other Countries

close of of $100 bills

California stem cell clinic to pay out $3.65M settlement to former patients for ineffective treatments

By Paul Schloesser, Endpoints News | 03.11.2022

^{Photo by Pepi Stojanovski on Unsplash}

Four years after the FDA admonished stem cell clinic StemGenex for making dubious claims...

Illustration of Christmas Island Rat

Bringing back the woolly mammoth and other extinct creatures may be impossible

By Elizabeth Pennisi, Science | 03.09.2022

^{"n364_w1150" by BioDivLibrary is marked with CC PDM 1.0.}

An extinct rat that once lived on an...

Animal Biotechnologies

plastic model of a human heart

US man who got 1st pig heart transplant dies after 2 months

By Lauran Neergaard and Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press | 03.09.2022

^{Photo by Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash}

The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two...

Animal Biotechnologies

Patient's brain scan

Could drugs prevent Alzheimer’s? These trials aim to find out

By Alison Abbott, Nature | 03.09.2022

^{Brain scan by Philippi et al via wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)}

Every two weeks, a nurse visits 43-year-old...

A gvel and patent law sign

Major CRISPR patent decision won’t end tangled dispute

By Heidi Ledford, Nature | 03.09.2022

^{Patent Law by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images}

A long-running dispute between two groups that...

Woman receiving an ultrasound exam

Bias and Inaccuracy in Marketing Noninvasive Prenatal Tests

By Editors, The Hastings Center | 03.08.2022

^{Photo by Scott via wikimedia}

Bias and inaccuracy are pervasive in the marketing of noninvasive prenatal tests (NIPTs), concludes an...

Other Countries

cattle

Gene-edited beef cattle get regulatory clearance in US

By Candice Choi, Associated Press | 03.07.2022

^{Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash}

U.S. regulators on Monday cleared the way for the sale of beef from gene-edited...

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