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

Wealthy funder pays reparations for use of HeLa cells

By Alexandra Witze, Nature | 10.29.2020

A major biomedical-research organization has for the first time aimed to make financial reparation for the continuing experimental use of...

Biotech & Pharma

In Embryos, Crispr Can Cut Out Whole Chromosomes—That's Bad

By Megan Molteni , Wired | 10.29.2020

IN 2017, RESEARCHERS at Oregon Health and Science University came out with some big (if true) news. Led by a...

Human Genetic Modification

Lab tests show risks of using CRISPR gene editing on embryos

By Marilynn Marchione, Associated Press | 10.29.2020

A lab experiment aimed at fixing defective DNA in human embryos shows what can go wrong with this type of...

Human Genetic Modification

Crispr Gene Editing Can Lead to Big Mistakes in Human Embryos

By Amy Dockser Marcus, Wall Street Journal [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 10.29.2020

Scientists using the Crispr gene-editing technology in human embryos to try to repair a gene that causes hereditary blindness found it...

Human Genetic Modification

How Eugenics Shaped Statistics

By Aubrey Clayton, Nautilus | 10.28.2020

^{Cicely D. Fawcett and Alice Lee, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons}

In early 2018, officials at University College London...

Eugenics

Kicked From the Curb in Alabama

By Ari Ne’eman, New York Times | 10.28.2020

Last week, the Supreme Court acquiesced to another attack on the voting rights of all Americans. In a 5-3 decision...

U.S. States

Difference or Disability? A Discussion with Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

By Laura Hercher, The Beagle Has Landed | 10.27.2020

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson discusses disability as an identity and the conflicts raised by genetic testing and counseling on Laura Hercher’s podcast, ...

Perspectives

Gene Editing Cannot Be Separated From The Violent History of Eugenics and Medical Racism

By Jude Casimir, Wear Your Voice [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 10.27.2020

Henrietta Lacks visited John Hopkins Hospital in 1951, complaining of vaginal bleeding. A mother of five children, Lacks was diagnosed by gynecologist...

Policies