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...

Inside of a 23andMe packaging spit kit. On the right of the box, there is text that outlines instructions on how to submit a DNA sample. On the left, there are tools.
By Michael Schulson , Undark | 12.28.2017

Submitting a vial of spit to a genetic testing company is easy. Understanding the implications — and regulating the burgeoning...

Grayscale photo of two women who are sitting next to each other, looking at each other's smartphones.
By Elissa Strauss, Glamour Magazine [cites CGS' Fellow Gina Maranto] | 12.28.2017

New evidence shows that the tests many companies use to determine a woman's chances of having a baby are based...

A patient looks through an eye doctor's instrument, which covers their face almost completely.
By Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic | 12.27.2017

Some blind people are questioning how the first gene therapy to treat inherited blindness has been valued.

Among blind people...

A person in a lab coat and gloved hands uses tongs to life up a bottle that has been stored in cryopreservation
By Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic | 12.21.2017

Emma Wren Gibson, frozen as an embryo in 1992, was born a few days after Thanksgiving in 2017, more than...

An eight-cell embryo
By Henry Zwartz, ABC News | 12.20.2017

A central Tasmanian sperm and egg donor register is being recommended after a parliamentary committee heard of the "distress and...

Close up of a brown mouse against a solid white background
By Kristen V. Brown, Gizmodo | 12.20.2017

Genetic engineering offers the promise of treating genetic disorders by correcting disease-causing DNA, but when the defective genes are located...

Close up of a mouse
By Rob Stein, NPR | 12.20.2017

Scientists have now edited genes inside mice to prevent a form of inherited deafness.

While cautioning that much more research...

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb stands behind a podium
By Laurie McGinley, Washington Post | 12.19.2017

In a historic move, the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a pioneering gene therapy for a rare form...