News

Surrogacy goes more mainstream

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Emily Galpern] | 03.29.2026

More Americans are turning to surrogacy to build their families, as the practice becomes more common and more publicly discussed.

Why it matters: As surrogacy becomes more visible and accessible, ethical, legal and cultural tensions become harder to ignore...

U.S. Federal

Eugenics and the Modern Synthesis, Part I

By Jessica Riskin, Los Ángeles Review of Books | 03.23.2026

This is the first part of the 14th installment in the Legacies of Eugenics series, which features essays by leading thinkers devoted to exploring the history of eugenics and the ways it shapes our present. The series is organized by...

Civil Society

Surrogacy laws are all over the map

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Surrogacy360] | 03.29.2026

Without a federal law, surrogacy in the U.S. is governed by a patchwork of state regulations/

Why it matters: Confusing...

Policies

Project Eugenics: The Rollback of Disability Rights

By Kiana Jackson and Shannon Stubblefield, New Disabled South | 02.09.2026

^{"MC0_8230" via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 2.0}

This report documents a deliberate assault on disabled people in...

U.S. States

Genetically Engineered Golden Rice: Real Hope or Misplaced Hype?

By Melissa Waddell, Living Non-GMO | 03.03.2022

The biotech industry loves to talk about precision.

For example, advocates for genetic engineering and genetic modification have adopted the...

Synthetic Biology

a police officer types on a computer keyboard

SFPD says use of rape victim's DNA in unrelated criminal investigation 'should not have happened'

By J. R. Stone, ABC News | 03.03.2022

Wednesday night the San Francisco Police Chief responded to some tough questions from police commissioners about the use of DNA...

Policies

A doctor explaining an Xray to a patient

Rediscovering a language of healing that doesn’t require ‘cure’

By Lee D. Cooper, STAT News | 03.02.2022

^{"Doctor Patient and Xray" by andyde is marked with CC BY-NC 2.0.}

I am a biotech investor and...

Human Genetic Modification

First gene-editing treatment injected into the blood reduces toxic protein for up to 1 year

By Jocelyn Kaiser, Science | 03.01.2022

^{Cas9 from CRISPR from NIH, CC BY-NC 2.0}

The first team to disable a disease gene directly in a...

Human Genetic Modification

Ukraine’s Surrogacy Industry Has Put Women in Impossible Positions

By Alison Motluk, The Atlantic | 03.01.2022

^{Ukrainian Flag by Jolanta Dyr from Pixabay}

Nothing crystallizes the “her body, my baby” conundrum of surrogacy quite like a...

Other Countries

UC Berkeley loses CRISPR gene editing patent case

By Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News | 02.28.2022

^{Photo of Jennifer Doudna licensed for reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0}

UC Berkeley scientist Jennifer Doudna earned a Nobel Prize...

Policies

When an Ancestry Search Reveals Fertility Fraud

By Jacqueline Mroz, The New York Times | 02.28.2022

Like millions of Americans, David Berry was curious about his genealogy. He wanted to learn more about his paternal grandfather...

U.S. States

Sperm Banks Struggle to Recruit Black Donors and Other Donors of Color

By Amy Dockser Marcus, Wall Street Journal | 02.26.2022

A few years after her marriage broke up, Aisha Jenkins started thinking about having a baby on her own. She...

Perspectives