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
capitol hill rotunda

Official apology for eugenics program moves ahead in Vermont Legislature

By Ethan Bakuli, Burlington Free Press | 04.01.2021

Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash

An apology letter intended to acknowledge Vermont's role in a program that sought to...

U.S. States
sickled blood cells

FDA approves CRISPR gene therapy trials for sickle cell disease

By Catherine Hsu, The Daily Californian | 04.01.2021

CRISPR genome editing technology, which was developed at UC Berkeley, has been approved for clinical trials to correct gene mutations...

Genetic Selection
A sickled cell

UC launches gene therapy trial to transform the treatment of sickle cell disease

By Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News | 03.31.2021

"Sickle cell disease (SCD)" by National Institutes
of Health (NIH) is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

A team of University...

Human Genetic Modification
phone with lock displayed

Your Face Is Not Your Own

By Kashmir Hill, The New York Times | 03.18.2021

Photo by Dan Nelson on Unsplash

In May 2019, an agent at the Department of Homeland Security received a trove...

U.S. Federal
courtroom

Criminal defendants still cite a ‘gene for violence.’ It doesn’t exist.

By Nita Farahany and Gene E. Robinson, The Washington Post | 03.18.2021

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled last month on an extraordinarily important question: Should a criminal defendant be allowed...

Genomics

Human Genetics Needs an Antiracism Plan

By Lea K. Davis, Scientific American | 03.17.2021

The study of human genetics emerged from a deep curiosity of our human inheritance that was firmly rooted in white...

Scientists Create Living Entities In The Lab That Closely Resemble Human Embryos

By Rob Stein, NPR | 03.17.2021

For decades, science has been trying to unlock the mysteries of how a single cell becomes a fully formed human...

Human Genetic Modification
an 8-cell embryo

A mouse embryo has been grown in an artificial womb—humans could be next

By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 03.17.2021

The photographs alone tell a fantastic story—a mouse embryo, complete with beating heart cells, a head, and the beginning of...

Animal Biotechnologies