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

"MC0_8230" via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 2.0 

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

U.S. States
Close up of Canadian currency. Blue, purple, and green bills.

Changing the law to allow payment for surrogacy is fraught with complications

By Alana Cattapan, CBC News | 05.22.2018

Paying for certain reproductive services in Canada — including egg donation, sperm donation and surrogacy — is currently illegal, but...

Assisted Reproduction
A mosaic made of primarily blue, black, and green tiles forms a radial pattern around a central circle.

Every Cell in Your Body Has the Same DNA. Except It Doesn’t.

By Carl Zimmer, The New York Times | 05.21.2018

James Priest couldn’t make sense of it. He was examining the DNA of a desperately ill baby, searching for a...

Technologies
Illustration of CRISPR Cas9 gene editing technology in action. An orange strand of DNA is split apart and a pink strand is inserted into the gap.

Genes, synecdoche and the possibility of editing ourselves

By Kurt Cobb, Resilience | 05.20.2018

Margaret Atwood’s 2003 novel Oryx and Crake depicts the evolution and aftermath of a bioengineered global catastrophe. Whether Atwood at...

Technologies
Image of the planet Earth from space.

23andMe Goes Global In Its Data-Mining Efforts

By Megan Molteni, Wired | 05.18.2018

Yanny or Laurel—could the secret to which word you hear be in your DNA? It’s a notion someone pitched at...

Technologies
Front of Ohio State House. Lawn, building, and two American flags.

Banning Abortion in Cases of Down Syndrome: Important Lessons for Advances in Genetic Diagnosis

By Rebecca B. Reingold and Lawrence O. Gostin, JAMA | 05.18.2018

In December 2017, Ohio passed into law legislation that prohibited physicians from performing abortions if the pregnant woman’s decision was...

U.S. States
A row of brightly colored blue, purple, yellow and red eggs sits in the snow

Egg-freezing regrets: Half of women who undergo the procedure have some remorse

By Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post | 05.18.2018

When 27-year-old Rita Ora announced recently that she had frozen her eggs, she joined a long list of celebrities touting...

Technologies
A genealogy chart made up of pink and blue rectangles used by Snohomish County Sheriff to identify suspect in 1987 murder case.

Technique Used to Find Golden State Killer Leads to a Suspect in 1987 Murders

By Heather Murphy, The New York Times | 05.18.2018

In 1987, Jay Cook, 20, and Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 18, a couple from Canada, were brutally killed while they were...

Technologies
Illustration of a tree draped with a banner that reads "EUGENICS." The roots of the tree have the names of various disciplines on them, e.g. genetics, genealogy, biology, history.

Let's compensate victims of California's forced sterilization program — quickly, before they die

By The Times Editorial Board, Los Angeles Times | 05.18.2018

As appalling as it sounds today, the practice of sterilizing mentally ill women and men to prevent them from passing...

Society