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...

Gloved hand holding DNA results with dyed purple columns on clear plate
By Carl Zimmer, The New York Times | 03.01.2019

One night in November 1999, a 26-year-old woman was raped in a parking lot in Grand Rapids, Mich. Police officers...

Chinese flag
By Dennis Normile, Science | 02.28.2019

In the wake of the shocking news that one of its scientists had produced genetically altered babies, the Chinese government...

Blue human stem cell
By William Wan and Laurie McGinley, The Washington Post | 02.27.2019

After years of back pain, Timothy Lunceford decided in July to try an injection of umbilical cord blood, an unproven...

Blue strand of double helix DNA on black background
By Natalie Kofler, Nature | 02.26.2019

Millions were shocked to learn of the birth of gene-edited babies last year, but apparently several scientists were already in...

He Jiankui in a lab
By Jane Qiu, STAT | 02.25.2019

BEIJING — Three government institutions in China, including the nation’s science ministry, may have funded the “CRISPR babies” study that...

Double helix strand of DNA with backbone that is orange and bases that are green
By Carl Zimmer, The New York Times | 02.21.2019

In 1985, the chemist Steven A. Benner sat down with some colleagues and a notebook and sketched out a way...

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...