News

Surrogacy goes more mainstream

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Emily Galpern] | 03.29.2026

More Americans are turning to surrogacy to build their families, as the practice becomes more common and more publicly discussed.

Why it matters: As surrogacy becomes more visible and accessible, ethical, legal and cultural tensions become harder to ignore...

U.S. Federal

Eugenics and the Modern Synthesis, Part I

By Jessica Riskin, Los Ángeles Review of Books | 03.23.2026

This is the first part of the 14th 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. The series is organized by...

Civil Society

Surrogacy laws are all over the map

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Surrogacy360] | 03.29.2026

Without a federal law, surrogacy in the U.S. is governed by a patchwork of state regulations/

Why it matters: Confusing...

Policies

Project Eugenics: The Rollback of Disability Rights

By Kiana Jackson and Shannon Stubblefield, New Disabled South | 02.09.2026

"MC0_8230" via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 2.0 

This report documents a deliberate assault on disabled people in...

U.S. States

Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to two women who developed CRISPR, a revolutionary gene-editing tool

By Ben Guarino, Washington Post | 10.07.2020

A pair of scientists — Jennifer A. Doudna, a biochemist at the University of California at Berkeley, and Emmanuelle Charpentier...

Human Genetic Modification

Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to 2 Scientists for Work on Genome Editing

By Katherine J. Wu, Carl Zimmer and Elian Peltier, New York Times | 10.07.2020

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was jointly awarded on Wednesday to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for their 2012...

Human Genetic Modification
Statue of Agassiz fallen down

Stanford will rename campus spaces named for David Starr Jordan and relocate statue depicting Louis Agassiz

By Chris Peacock, Stanford News | 10.07.2020

Stanford will rename campus features named after David Starr Jordan and take actions to provide the public with a more...

Civil Society
a wooden gavel

Is it "fraud" when you sell bad sperm as good?

By Alison Motluk, HeyReprotech Newsletter | 10.06.2020

A lot happened last week in the department of problem sperm. 

For one thing, the Supreme Court of Georgia decided...

Assisted Reproduction
Wheat field

Gene-Silencing Pesticides Pose New Risks to Health, Environment and Farmers

By Eva Sirinathsinghji, Kendra Klein and Dana Perls, Friends of the Earth | 10.06.2020

WASHINGTON — “Gene-silencing pesticides” now under development pose unique risks to surrounding ecosystems and beneficial insects, including bees, according to...

Synthetic Biology
Voting by mail

Election Guide: Here's What You Need to Know About Proposition 14

By Terry McSweeney, NBC Bay Area [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 10.04.2020

Proposition 14 on the November ballot asks voters to approve $5.5 billion to continue funding stem cell research in California...

Policies
Reproductive surgery

A Brief History of Sterilization Abuse in the U.S. and its Connection to ICE Mass Hysterectomies in Georgia

By Gabriela Salas, National Women's Health Network | 10.02.2020

On September 15, 2020, a whistle-blower complaint alleged that immigrant women in a privately-run Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention...

U.S. States
rainbow flag drawn on inside of white wrist

Gay men in Russia with surrogate children warned they face arrest

By Oliver Carroll, The Independent | 10.02.2020

Russian authorities have warned of the arrest of gay men who have fathered children to surrogate mothers, firing what appears...

Policies