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

U.S. law sets stage for boost to artificial intelligence research

By Jeffrey Mervis, Science | 01.06.2021

Low-income commuters who rely on public transit face many challenges—multiple transfers, long waits, and off-hour travel—that aren’t measured in the...

Policies

CRISPR cures progeria in mice, raising hope for one-time therapy for a disease that causes rapid aging

By Sharon Begley, STAT | 01.06.2021

Biologists tend not to discuss experimental results on a handful of cells and a single solitary mouse — too preliminary...

Animal Biotechnologies

Singapore says police will be given access to Covid-19 contact tracing data

By Josh Taylor, The Guardian | 01.05.2021

Singapore has announced its police will be able to use data obtained by its coronavirus contact-tracing technology for criminal investigations...

Other Countries

The First Pig-to-Human Organ Transplants Could Happen This Year

By Emily Mullin, Future Human | 01.05.2021

Every day in the United States, 17 people die waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. To address this crisis, one...

Animal Biotechnologies

Haven, ambitious health venture backed by Amazon, to shut down

By Erin Brodwin, STAT | 01.04.2021

After a tumultuous three years marked by halting progress and high rates of employee turnover, Haven — the ambitious...

Biotech & Pharma

Public thinker: Shobita Parthasarathy on why we need to diversify expertise

By Daniel Sarewitz, Public Books | 01.04.2021

To converse with Shobita Parthasarathy is to be enveloped in two kinds of warmth: that of a generous-spirited, energetic, and...

Bioethics

Is Reducing Down Syndrome Births a Form of Eugenics?

By Richard Gunderman, Psychology Today | 01.03.2021

A recently released study finds that Europe has reduced the number of babies born with Down syndrome by 54%. In...

Eugenics

The Dark Past of Algorithms That Associate Appearance and Criminality

By Catherine Stinson, American Scientist | 01.01.2021

“Phrenology” has an old-fashioned ring to it. It sounds like it belongs in a history book, filed somewhere between bloodletting and...

Civil Society