News

During his 2015 State of the Union address, then-President Barack Obama announced what he promised would be an ambitious public health project. “Tonight, I’m launching a new Precision Medicine Initiative to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes...

This is the 15th 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. You can read the first part here. The series...

Justin Schleede reaches onto a black lab bench to pick up a tray of small plastic tubes.

"These are saliva...

"If proven to be safe, we believe preventive gene editing could be one of the most important health technologies of...

Closeup of an eye being analyzed by biometric technology
By Michelle Spektor, The Washington Post | 02.03.2022

Places around the world are using biometric technologies for coronavirus contact tracing and surveillance. For example, a municipality in South...

Pregnant woman holding an ultrasound next to belly
By Amy Julia Becker, The New York Times | 02.01.2022

Our 16-year-old daughter, Penny, wakes up to the beeping of her alarm. On her way downstairs, she picks up her...

a bunch of sperm surrounding an egg
By Libby Denkmann and Sarah Leibovitz , NPR | 01.31.2022

Consumer DNA testing kits like 23andMe or Ancestry have opened up a new world of information for children conceived using...

Couple standing on a world map
By Amy Molloy, Independent.ie | 01.27.2022

Irish couples expecting babies via surrogacy in Ukraine are expected to receive special diplomatic assistance amid concerns over the security...

Baby crawling within a DNA fence
By Ian Sample, The Guardian | 01.26.2022

Before your child is born, you have their genome tweaked to boost their stature, build and intelligence. When they head...

checking creatine levels
By Jill Neimark, Undark Magazine | 01.26.2022

"creatinine" by Lori Greig is licensed under CC 2.0

On the morning of June 19, 2020—Juneteenth, now a...

By Linda Geddes, The Guardian | 01.25.2022

Experts have warned against the “unproven” and “unethical” use of genetic tests to predict the risk of complex diseases in...