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
Native Amreican man

We Have “Gifted” Enough: Indigenous Genomic Data Sovereignty in Precision Medicine

By Krystal S. Tsosie, Joseph M. Yracheta, Jessica A. Kolopenuk, and Janis Geary, The American Journal of Bioethics | 04.07.2021

Photo by Andrew James on Unsplash

In “Obligations of the ‘Gift’: Reciprocity and Responsibility in Precision Medicine,” Lee (2021...

Society

She Gave Birth To Her Own Children, Then A Michigan Judge Ruled Her To Be A Surrogate

By Ellen Trachman, Above the Law [cites CGS] | 04.07.2021

A lot of surprising things happen when the use of assisted reproductive technology slams up against outdated family law doctrines...

U.S. States
A white doctor

Troubling podcast puts JAMA, the ‘voice of medicine,’ under fire for its mishandling of race

By Usha Lee McFarling, STAT | 04.06.2021

Weeks after it was scrubbed from the Journal of the American Medical Association’s website, a disastrous podcast — whose host...

Bioethics
man behind fence

Surviving the Crackdown in Xinjiang

By Raffi Khatchadourian, The New Yorker | 04.05.2021

I. HOME

When Anar Sabit was in her twenties and living in Vancouver, she liked to tell her friends that...

Eugenics
virus

Harbingers of Things to Come in Gene Therapy

By Josh P. Roberts, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | 04.02.2021

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

It is one thing to anticipate what gene therapy will look like in 5 years...

Human Genetic Modification
The Code Breaker book cover

What Is It to Be Human Anymore?

By Michael Hirsh, Foreign Policy | 04.02.2021

This book is not for the faint of mind. Walter Isaacson is a great storyteller who has devoted his justly...

Society
sterilization protest with signs

Reparations for CA forced sterilization survivors: Support AB 1007

By Aminah Elster, The Daily Californian | 04.02.2021

Between 1909 and 1979, California forcibly sterilized over 20,000 people of color, people with disabilities and imprisoned people. Based on...

Civil Society
baby plants

“Small” changes made with gene editing cause severe deformities in plants

By GMWatch | 04.01.2021

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Gene editing causes drastic unwanted effects in gene-edited plants including severe deformities, a new...

Genetic Selection