News

Surrogacy goes more mainstream

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Emily Galpern] | 03.29.2026

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...

U.S. Federal

Eugenics and the Modern Synthesis, Part I

By Jessica Riskin, Los Ángeles Review of Books | 03.23.2026

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...

Civil Society

Surrogacy laws are all over the map

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Surrogacy360] | 03.29.2026

Without a federal law, surrogacy in the U.S. is governed by a patchwork of state regulations/

Why it matters: Confusing...

Policies

Project Eugenics: The Rollback of Disability Rights

By Kiana Jackson and Shannon Stubblefield, New Disabled South | 02.09.2026

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This report documents a deliberate assault on disabled people in...

U.S. States

Use the patent system to regulate gene editing

By Shobita Parthasarathy, Nature | 10.23.2018

Next month, researchers, policymakers, ethicists and social scientists will meet in Hong Kong for the second International Summit on Human...

Policies

Sociogenomics is opening a new door to eugenics

By Nathaniel Comfort, MIT Technology Review | 10.23.2018

Want to predict aggression? Neuroticism? Risk aversion? Authoritarianism? Academic achievement? This is the latest promise from the burgeoning field of...

Two Native American geneticists interpret Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test

By Krystal Tsosie and Matthew Anderson, The Conversation | 10.22.2018

Dr. Carlos Bustamante, a prominent population geneticist, recently concluded that Senator Elizabeth Warren had “a Native American ancestor.” While geneticists...

Perspectives

Designer babies aren’t futuristic. They’re already here.

By Laura Hercher, MIT Technology Review | 10.22.2018

At first, Matthew assumed the weakness in his knee was the sort of orthopedic nuisance that happens when you turn...

Assisted Reproduction

White-people-only DNA tests show how unequal science has become

By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 10.18.2018

The DNA testing company Color Genomics says that early next year it will offer customers a new type of gene...

Genomics

DNA Testing Can’t Tell Us Who We Really Are. It Can Tell the Cops.

By Max Read, Intelligencer | 10.17.2018

Do we know anything new about Elizabeth Warren, now that we’ve seen her DNA test results? Besides, I mean...

Genomics

Elizabeth Warren and the Folly of Genetic Ancestry Tests

By Alondra Nelson, The New York Times | 10.17.2018

This week, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts announced that geneticists had analyzed her DNA and proved her longstanding claim that...

Bioethics

Padlock attached to a DNA strand on a blue background.

Elizabeth Warren and the Death of Genetic Privacy

By Noah Feldman, Bloomberg | 10.15.2018

In theory, taking a DNA test to reveal your ancestry is optional. But it’s on its way to becoming obligatory...

Genomics