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...

Blue outline of human with detailed brain, in a web of connecting lines
By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 02.21.2019

The brains of two genetically edited girls born in China last year may have been changed in ways that enhance...

Three test tubes nect to gloved hand
By Sui-Lee Wee, The New York Times | 02.21.2019

BEIJING — The authorities called it a free health check. Tahir Imin had his doubts.

They drew blood from the...

Pregnant woman with hands on her stomach
By Marta Rodriguez Martinez and Rachael Kennedy, Euro News | 02.20.2019

The Spanish embassy in Ukraine announced on Tuesday that the Spanish government had decided to begin rejecting registrations for babies...

Class of kindergartners and three teachers holding up paper turkeys
By Michael Standaert, MIT Technology Review | 02.19.2019

In Shenzhen, even kindergartners have homework. You can see it in the workbook-laden backpacks weighing them down as they waddle...

Pipet in a test tube
By Sarah Mervosh, The New York Times | 02.17.2019

A Minnesota man was eating a hot dog at a hockey game when, the authorities said, he wiped his mouth...

Ancestry DNA kit and test tube
By Erin Brodwin, Business Insider | 02.16.2019

The data you shared with a genetic testing startup like 23andMe is private — for now.

But maintaining that privacy...

Girl holding man's finger
By Jacqueline Mroz, The New York Times | 02.16.2019

Danielle Teuscher decided to give DNA tests as presents last Christmas to her father, close friends and 5-year-old daughter, joining...

Several strands of blue DNA on a dark blue background
By Marc Montgomery, Radio Canada International | 02.13.2019

CRISPR is a recent technological breakthrough in simplifying gene editing,

It’s potential is enormous and at the same time it...