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
Kidney surgery

Kidneys From a Genetically Altered Pig Are Implanted in a Brain-Dead Patient

By Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times | 01.20.2022

Photo courtesy of Sanford Health via flickr

Surgeons at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported on Thursday that they...

Animal Biotechnologies
Altos Labs logo

Rejuvenation by controlled reprogramming is the latest gambit in anti-aging

By Michael Eisenstein, Nature Biotechnology | 01.19.2022

On 19 January, co-founders Rick Klausner and Hans Bishop publicly launched an aging research initiative called Altos Labs, with $3...

Animal Biotechnologies
2 doctors performing surgery

Xenotransplantation: Three Areas of Concern

By L. Syd M. Johnson, The Hastings Center Bioethics Forum | 01.19.2022

News of the first  transplant of a pig’s heart into a human was widely reported last week, raising hope that...

Synthetic Biology

Deregulating GMOs in the UK

By GMWatch, GMWatch | 01.19.2022

A new analysis by A Bigger Conversation suggests that, in its haste to deregulate agricultural gene technologies, the UK government...

Policies
Person holding a tuft of their hair

Going bald? Lab-grown hair cells could be on the way

By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 01.18.2022

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Biologists at several startups are applying the latest advances in genetic engineering to the...

Stem Cells
Ad for sperm donors

Sperm donation is largely unregulated, but that could soon change as lawsuits multiply

By Naomi Cahn and Sonia Suter, The Conversation | 01.18.2022

"Advertisement for sperm donors, MIT Tech" 
by milan.ilnyckyj is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

When Wendy and Janet Norman...

Policies
robot with math on blackboard

Artificial intelligence can discriminate on the basis of race and gender, and also age

By Charlene Chu, Kathleen Leslie, Rune Nyrup, and Shehroz Khan, The Conversation | 01.18.2022

Image by Mike MacKenzie licensed
under CC BY 2.0 via www.vpnsrus.com

We have accepted the use of artificial intelligence (AI)...

A "Post-Human" Future?

NHS pilots genetic testing to predict risk of heart disease

By Hannah Devlin, The Guardian | 01.17.2022

A world-first pilot of predictive genetic testing aiming to identify those at high risk of cardiovascular disease is under way...

Policies