News

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...

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...

Adapted from Mitochondrial DNA at
National Human Genome Research Institute

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

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

A pregnant woman lays with her stomach exposed on a hospital bed, and looks over to her side viewing a sonogram machine which displays a fetus.
By Sarah White, Reuters | 01.03.2018

A majority of French people would favor allowing surrogate motherhood, though primarily only for medical reasons, a poll showed on...

Three stacks of coins are resting on top of paper that has small font. Blue and black pens are stacked between the coin piles.
By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washington Post | 01.03.2018

A landmark gene therapy to treat a rare, inherited form of blindness will cost $850,000 — a price tag so daunting that its maker will...

Grayscale photo of a pregnant woman holding her stomach.
By Ruchira Sharma, International Business Times | 01.02.2018

China's illegal surrogacy market is booming with vast numbers of women earning money through offering their wombs for service.

Women...

A microphone rests on a stand and is spotlighted, against a solid black background.
By Matthew C. Nisbet, American Scientist | 01.01.2018

Public dialogue about the new technology will require major investments from scientists, journalists, and philanthropists.

In 2014 biochemist Jennifer Doudna...

Someone in a laboratory wears gloves on their hands, as they place a test tube filled with liquid into a centrifuge machine. Other laboratory equipment surrounds the room.
By Richard Harris, NPR | 12.31.2017

Federal taxpayers are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a quest for blood samples, medical information and fitness readouts...

A triangular warning sign posted against a wooden post. The sign is yellow, with a figurine that is slipping on water.
By Paul J. Hauptman, STAT News | 12.29.2017

We are witnessing great promise in medicine today. The vocabulary dazzles: “precision medicine,” “stem cells,” “moon shot,” and other terms...

Gray scale image of a Frankenstein character.
By Brian Bergstein, Neo.Life | 12.28.2017

What “Frankenstein” and the golem tell us about the power and responsibility of science.

January 1 marks the 200th anniversary of...

An illuminated wall display featuring multi-colored letters of ATCG.
By Deng Xiaoci, Global Times | 12.28.2017

The world's largest human genome research project of 100,000 people was launched by China on Thursday to document their genetic...