News

These companies help parents try to pick their babies' traits. Experts are wary

By Rob Stein, NPR [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.06.2026

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

"These are saliva samples as well as blood," says Schleede, a geneticist who runs Herasight Inc.'s lab in Morrisville, N.C. "We also...

Genetic Selection

The Measured Listener

By Daniel Shanahan, Los Angeles Review of Books | 05.31.2026

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...

U.S. States

The start-ups dreaming of creating genetically modified babies

By Alexandre Piquard, Le Monde [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.22.2026

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

U.S. Federal

Natural Election

By Jonathan Basile, Los Ángeles Review of Books | 04.29.2026

WILLIAM BATESON, a foundational figure in the science of genetics at the turn of the last century, once recounted the...

Society

Polygenic screening of embryos is here, but is it ethical?

By Philip Ball, The Guardian [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 10.17.2021

The birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978 provoked a media frenzy. In comparison, a little girl...

Genomics

The Children of Sperm Donors Want to Change the Rules of Conception

By Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic | 10.15.2021

^{Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash}

Damian Adams grew up knowing that his parents had used an anonymous sperm donor...

Other Countries

Cracking the Egg Donation Market

By Katherine McKeen, The Regulatory Review | 10.13.2021

“Earn up to $50,000 dollars!” “Help a family!” “Donate your eggs!”

Such slogans appear regularly on college bulletin boards and...

U.S. Federal

Mural with an image of Henrietta Lacks and short bio

WHO honors Henrietta Lacks, woman whose cells served science

By Jamey Keaten, Associated Press | 10.13.2021

^{"Henrietta Lacks" by Crawford Brian is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0}

The chief of the World Health Organization on Wednesday...

Global Governance

Hawaiian double hulled sailing canoe setting out on ceremonial voyage

Genomes Show the History and Travels of Indigenous Peoples

By Keolu Fox, Scientific American | 10.13.2021

^{Robert Cudney / CC-BY-SA-4.0}

I am the proud descendant of people who, at least 1,000 years ago, made one of...

Bioethics

California's Multi-Billion Dollar Plan for Spending on Cell and Gene Therapy Is Nearing Completion

By David Jensen, The California Stem Cell Report | 10.11.2021

The 35 directors of the $12 billion California stem cell agency are scheduled to meet next week for a full...

Policies

Graphic of a test tube, DNA, and 5 people

Heritable human genome editing: Who decides? Science or society?

By Françoise Baylis, Journal of Medical Ethics Blog | 10.11.2021

Many describe the move from bench to bedside (from basic science to therapeutic or preventive applications) as a sprint –...

Human Genetic Modification

silhouette of a seated man with trees in background

‘Lies and trauma’: donor-conceived adults are still haunted by their origins

By Gary Nunn, The Guardian | 10.09.2021

^{Photo by Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash}

Brendan Ritter, 22, recently discovered he was donor conceived.

When he was told, his...

Genomics