News

A Chinese scientist horrified the world in 2018 when he revealed he had secretly engineered the birth of the world's first gene-edited babies.

His work was reviled as reckless and unethical because, among other reasons, gene-editing was so new...

INTRODUCTION

Baby bonuses. Motherhood medals. Fertility tracking. You may have heard of these policy proposals as solutions from the Trump administration to help encourage women to have more children.

Besides falling short of ensuring that people have what they need...

Adapted from Mitochondrial DNA at
National Human Genome Research Institute

Recently, media outlets around the world have been reporting on...

A newly available kind of genetic testing, called polygenic embryo screening, promises to screen for conditions that can include cancer...

Woman looking and pointing at phone
By Drew Harwell, The Washington Post | 04.10.2019

Like millions of women, Diana Diller was a devoted user of the pregnancy-tracking app Ovia, logging in every night to...

Black and white depiction of evolution, from primates to humans
By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 04.10.2019

Human intelligence is one of evolution’s most consequential inventions. It is the result of a sprint that started millions of...

Two 23andMe at-home DNA testing kits
By Peter Aldhous, Buzzfeed | 04.09.2019

A year ago, when cops captured Joseph James DeAngelo, the suspected Golden State Killer, the world woke up...

Stem cell injection needle
By Chia-Yi Hou, The Scientist | 04.08.2019

Last week marked a flurry of activity to rein in activities by stem cell clinics that give customers unproven interventions...

Mother kissing smiling baby on the cheek
By Lesley McClurg, National Public Radio | 04.08.2019

It wasn't hard for Shara Watkins to get pregnant. It was hard for her to stay pregnant.

In 2016, she...

Mother with three children--kissing one on the cheek and holding one
By Ellen Matloff, Forbes | 04.07.2019

For over a century parents had the option of placing a child for adoption anonymously – meaning that the child...

Dollar bill with DNA in the middle
By James Paton, Bloomberg | 04.06.2019

Dozens of revolutionary gene therapies that mend faulty strands of DNA are on their way, bringing the power to eliminate...

Pacifier frozen in petri dish
By Jasmin Rosemberg, The New York Times | 04.05.2019

Perhaps it started with the fortuneteller.

Though I’d spent my 32 years steering clear of all tarot card readers and...