News

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...

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...

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

Why it matters: Confusing...

"MC0_8230" via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 2.0 

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

By Michael Le Page, New Scientist | 12.06.2019

Pig-primate chimeras have been born live for the first time but died within a week. The two piglets, created by...

clasped hands of an elderly white woman
By Emily Mullin, Medium One Zero | 12.05.2019

Would you pay $1 million and fly to South America for a chance to live longer?

Libella Gene Therapeutics, a...

Photo of Mary Darnovsky, a white woman with brown hair and glasses
By Marcy Darnovsky, Southwestern Medical Perspectives | 12.04.2019

Should CRISPR be used to alter the genes and traits of future children and generations? Dozens of nations have considered this...

Photo of He Jiankui, a Chinese man with black hair wearing a blue shirt
By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 12.03.2019

He Jiankui’s manuscript shows how he ignored ethical and scientific norms in creating the gene-edited twins Lulu and Nana.

Earlier...

A woman's face with a grin indicating facial recognition software
By Sui-Lee Wee & Paul Mozur, The New York Times | 12.03.2019

In a dusty city in the Xinjiang region on China’s western frontier, the authorities are testing the rules of science...

Two police officers in China patrol a city square
By Yves Moreau, Nature | 12.03.2019

Across the world, DNA databases that could be used for state-level surveillance are steadily growing.

The most striking case is...

doctor makes notes on a baby with stethoscope in the foreground
By Charis Thompson, AMA Journal of Ethics | 12.01.2019

Abstract

Gene-edited babies who might be born in the future should be monitored over the course of their life. These...

Colorful double helix turning into a human form
By Mark Buchanan, Bloomberg | 11.25.2019

Biologists recently revealed a new form of the gene-editing tool known as Crispr that allows researchers to make precise changes...