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...

Microscopic picture of egg cells and embryos
By Rob Stein, National Public Radio [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 02.01.2019

A scientist in New York is conducting experiments designed to modify DNA in human embryos as a step toward someday...

A building on the Rice University campus
By Jane Qiu, STAT News | 01.31.2019

BEIJING — An American scientist at Rice University was far more involved in the widely condemned “CRISPR babies” experiment than...

Man holding up clear plate with DNA
By Salvador Hernandez, BuzzFeed News | 01.31.2019

Family Tree DNA, one of the largest private genetic testing companies whose home-testing kits enable people to trace their ancestry...

A small child with curly hair holds a finger on an adult's hand
By Pilar Álvarez, El País | 01.30.2019

In a little over a decade, the number of foreign children adopted by Spanish parents has plunged from 5,541 to...

Two pairs of scissors cutting a strand of DNA
By The Editorial Board, The New York Times | 01.28.2019

Scientists quickly condemned the Chinese researcher who altered the DNA of at least two embryos to create the world’s first genetically edited...

Photo of Craig Mello smiling
By Candice Choi and Marilynn Marchione, Time | 01.28.2019

Long before the claim of the world’s first gene-edited babies became public, Chinese researcher He Jiankui shared the news with...

Gloved hands holding pipette at lab desk
By Nina Frahm and Tess Doezema, Stat News | 01.28.2019

It’s been two months since Chinese scientist He Jiankui shocked the world with the announcement that his lab had created...

Baby in pink shirt with hand in its mouth
By Mark Kennedy, Times Free Press | 01.27.2019

Chinese authorities confirmed last week that a scientist there is responsible for the first "gene editing" of human babies.

I...