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...

young man of color wearing a hoodie behind a cyclone fence
By Caitlin Dickerson, The New York Times | 10.02.2019

The Trump administration is moving to collect DNA samples from hundreds of thousands of people booked into federal immigration custody...

Book cover for "Altered Inheritance" featuring text and two difference colored eyes
By Adam Hayden, Science | 09.30.2019

With Altered Inheritance, bioethicist Françoise Baylis has authored a vivid call to action that “aims to bridge the divides...

black and white image of a human egg undergoing IVF
By Stepan Kravchenko, Bloomberg | 09.28.2019

This summer, after a Russian biochemist announced plans to follow in the footsteps of a rogue Chinese researcher and produce...

Photos of Stuart Newman and Tina Stevens and the cover of their book, Biotech Juggernaut
By Tina Stevens and Stuart Newman, CounterPunch | 09.26.2019

In September, California’s legislature passed AB 922, a bill legalizing the payment to women for their eggs for research purposes...

needle extracting a fertilized egg from a petrie dish
By Jennifer M. Gumer, The Hastings Center | 09.26.2019

Last month, an international commission convened to consider whether and how germline editing – changing the genes passed on to...

gloved hand holding a forensic DNA result
By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times | 09.25.2019

For decades, scientists have used ever-improving DNA forensics to help solve crimes and detect suspects in cold cases such as...

Image of He Jiankui
By Franҫoise Baylis, STAT | 09.23.2019

The hubris of some scientists knows no bounds. Less than a year after He Jiankui, a Chinese biophysicist, drew scorn...

gloved hand holding a vial of stem cells with tweezers
By Erin Allday, San Francisco Chronicle | 09.18.2019

California’s medical board on Wednesday took up an issue that scientists and consumer watchdog groups say is critical to patient...