News

During his 2015 State of the Union address, then-President Barack Obama announced what he promised would be an ambitious public health project. “Tonight, I’m launching a new Precision Medicine Initiative to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes...

This is the 15th 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. You can read the first part here. The series...

Justin Schleede reaches onto a black lab bench to pick up a tray of small plastic tubes.

"These are saliva...

"If proven to be safe, we believe preventive gene editing could be one of the most important health technologies of...

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...

NASA spaceship taking off, smoke surrounding the ship
By Rose Eveleth, Wired | 01.27.2019

In1961, A college student named David Myers traveled from Washington, DC, to the US Naval School of Aviation Medicine in Florida...

Three round red blood cells and two sickle shaped on blue background
By Gina Kolata, The New York Times | 01.27.2019

Scientists have long known what causes sickle-cell disease and its devastating effects: a single mutation in one errant gene...