News

'Superbabies' Startup Seeks Funds for Controversial Gene Editing Push

By Sophie Alexander and Ike Swetlitz, Bloomberg | 06.25.2025

A California-startup focused on genetically editing human embryos — a step toward creating so-called designer babies — is raising money as many of Silicon Valley’s ultra-rich turn their attention to one of the most controversial technologies in medicine.

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Patents & Other IP

Can doctors test embryos for autism? And should they?

By Brittany Luse, Liam McBain, and Neena Pathak, NPR [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.28.2025

A newly available kind of genetic testing, called polygenic embryo screening, promises to screen for conditions that can include cancer, obesity, autism, bipolar disorder, even celiac disease. These conditions are informed by many genetic variants and environmental factors - so...

Genetic Selection

Why Deleting Your 23andMe Data Is a Political Imperative

By Katie Sagaser, The DNA Exchange | 05.27.2025

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this piece are solely my own and do not represent those of my...

U.S. Federal

Trumpian “Common Sense” and the History of IQ Tests

By Pepper Stetler, Los Angeles Review of Books | 05.08.2025

"Donald Trump Signs The Pledge" by Michael Vadon 
is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

This is...

Society
dna dissolving into blue background

Real-Life Biotech Firm Petitions Star Trek's Federation on Reddit to Change Galactic Law

By Russ Burlingame, Comicbook | 07.23.2024

Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences, a biotech company that's putting together plans to orchestrate the de-extinction for animals like the dodo...

Genetic Selection
colorful strand of DNA on yellow background

Disabled Bodies and Enabling The Creation of The Medical Genetics Profession

By Robert Resta, The DNA Exchange | 07.22.2024

Medical geneticists and genetic counselors have an often complicated and at times tense relationship with people with disabilities, their families...

Genomics
Image of in vitro fertilization

The fertility industry: profiting from vulnerability

By Editorial Staff, The Lancet | 07.20.2024

Image by DrKontogianniIVF from Wikimedia Commons

Despite major advances in securing sexual and reproductive rights globally, one aspect is continually...

Genetic Selection
Image of JD Vance giving a speech

JD Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy" ignores the real Appalachian crisis it portrays

By Mesha Maren , Salon | 07.20.2024

Image by Gage Skidmore from Flickr licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

I started reading JD Vance's 2016 memoir "Hillbilly...

Human Genetic Modification
a graphic of a "superbaby"

Dawn of the Silicon Valley Superbaby

By Julia Black and Margaux MacColl, The Information [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 07.19.2024

When venture capitalist Jack Abraham first began dating his wife, Gabriella Massamillo, he insisted on one condition: that when they...

Genetic Selection
Image of Galton's gravesite listing him as the "founder of eugenics."

The “Correlation” Between Statistics and Eugenics

By Aubrey Clayton, Los Angeles Review of Books | 07.18.2024

Image "Sir Francis Galton" by Spudgun67 from Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

IN 2013, A SERIES of ads...

Reproductive Justice, Health & Rights
vials of blood with a yellow background case

Promised Cures, Tainted Cells: How Cord Blood Banks Mislead Parents

By Sarah Kliff and Azeen Ghorayshi, The New York Times | 07.15.2024

image "Blood Samples" by Daniel Sone from the website of the National Cancer Institute

Millions of pregnant women get the pitch...

Stem Cells
a graphic of a person removing a piece of a dna strand

China bans clinical research in germline genome editing as ‘irresponsible’

By Alcott Wei, South China Morning Post | 07.13.2024

China has banned all clinical research involving germline genome editing under a newly released ethics guideline.

Germline gene engineering relates...

Human Genetic Modification