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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...

Free Britney Spears protest
By Michaela Kathleen Curran, The Conversation | 10.01.2021

Photo by Mike Maguire on Flickr

Britney Spears has been locked in a court battle 13 years in the making...

By Erik Parens, The Hastings Center | 09.30.2021

In her new book, Kathryn Paige Harden is full of hope that insights from genetics will become powerful tools...

By Liam Drew, Nature | 09.29.2021

It’s 2036, and you have kidney failure. Until recently, this condition meant months or years of gruelling dialysis, while you...

By Frederick Hewett, WBUR | 09.27.2021

“What we need to fight climate change is woolly mammoths” — said no climate scientist, ever.

But that’s not deterring a hotshot...

autism in the UK
By Katharine Sanderson, Nature | 09.27.2021

A large, UK-based study of genetics and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been suspended, following criticism that it failed to...

Looking at a book with and without glasses
By Ruth Reader, Fast Company | 09.27.2021

On the eighth night of Hanukkah last year, Barry Honig saw light. He could see the shape of the menorah...

blue sperm swimming
By Jenny Kleeman, The Guardian | 09.25.2021

For 40 years, Catherine Simpson thought she knew who she was: a nurse, a mother of three, a daughter and...

By Natalie Ram, Erin E. Murphy, and Sonia M. Suter, Science | 09.24.2021

In May 2021, Maryland enacted the first law in the United States—and in the world—that comprehensively regulates law enforcement’s use...