News

The quest to create gene-edited babies gets a reboot

By Rob Stein, NPR [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 08.06.2025

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...

Genetic Selection

Baby Bonuses and Motherhood Medals: Why We Shouldn’t Trust the Pronatalist Movement

By Staff, National Women's Law Center | 08.13.2025

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...

Human Genetic Modification

We Don’t Know if the Babies Born From Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy Will Still Develop Mitochondrial Disease

By Katherine Drabiak, Journal of Medical Ethics Forum | 08.07.2025

Adapted from Mitochondrial DNA at
National Human Genome Research Institute

Recently, media outlets around the world have been reporting on...

Assisted Reproduction

Can doctors test embryos for autism? And should they?

By Brittany Luse, Liam McBain, and Neena Pathak, NPR [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.28.2025

A newly available kind of genetic testing, called polygenic embryo screening, promises to screen for conditions that can include cancer...

Genetic Selection
A gloved hand examines a blue tray of red and green DNA test results.

Why a DNA data breach is much worse than a credit card leak

By Angela Chen, The Verge | 06.06.2018

This week, DNA testing service MyHeritage revealed that hackers had breached 92 million of its accounts. Though the hackers...

Bioethics
A key is inserted into a gold padlock against a white background.

One of America’s Biggest Genetic Testing Companies Refuses to Publicly Share Data That Could Save Countless Lives

By Kat McGowan, Mother Jones | 06.06.2018

Barbara Zeughauser had lost so many relatives to cancer: Her mother, her uncle, her grandmother, her second cousin. She thought...

Biopolitics

Clinic Claims Success In Making Babies With 3 Parents' DNA

By Rob Stein, NPR [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 06.06.2018

In a clinic on a side street in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, doctors are doing something that, as far...

Assisted Reproduction
Black and white photo of an old hospital room.

Eugenics never went away

By Robert A. Wilson, Aeon | 06.05.2018

Eugenics was a mixture of science and social movement that aimed to improve the human race over generations. Those of...

Other Countries
A female, African American protester holds a sign that reads, "Sterilization of mothers violates U.N. charter. Vote No on House Bill 20."

Eugenics today: where eugenic sterilisation continues now

By Robert A Wilson, Aeon | 06.05.2018

Eugenics was a mixture of science and social movement that aimed to improve the human race over generations. Those of...

Other Countries
A black and white print depicting the exterior of the Cheshire Lunatic Asylum.

How asylums became the crucible of genetics

By David Dobbs, Nature | 06.05.2018

Who founded genetics? The line-up usually numbers four. William Bateson and Wilhelm Johannsen coined the terms genetics and gene, respectively...

Eugenics
Image of a white cotton swab and clear test tube against a white background.

Genealogy site MyHeritage says 92 million user accounts compromised

By Megan Thielking, Stat News | 06.05.2018

MyHeritage, one of the nation’s most popular online genealogy sites, said a security breach had affected the email addresses and...

Technologies
A futuristic-looking freezer illuminated in blue and pink light opens to reveal white vapor. The freezer is labeled "Cryogenics International."

The Responsibility of Immortality: Welcome to the New Transhumanism

By Joi Ito, Wired | 06.04.2018

In the summer of 1990, I was running a pretty weird nightclub in the Roppongi neighborhood of Tokyo. I was deeply...

Society