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...

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...

Brown lizard on log
By Heather Murphy, The New York Times | 04.05.2019

Scientists have been altering the genes of mice, pigs, goats, chickens and butterflies for quite some time. But even as...

Blue DNA on black background with green vertical letters and numbers on top
By Oliver Morton, The Economist | 04.04.2019

1 A whole new world

Biology is a way of structuring matter at a molecular scale by slotting each atom...