News

During his 2015 State of the Union address, then-President Barack Obama announced what he promised would be an ambitious public health project. “Tonight, I’m launching a new Precision Medicine Initiative to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes...

This is the 15th 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. You can read the first part here. The series...

Justin Schleede reaches onto a black lab bench to pick up a tray of small plastic tubes.

"These are saliva...

"If proven to be safe, we believe preventive gene editing could be one of the most important health technologies of...

Black and white image of Dr. Frankenstein standing over his creation, a humanoid creature which lays strapped to a bed.
By Nova Wonders, PBS [Cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 05.23.2018

"It's alive!" Since Dr. Frankenstein spoke those famous words, we've been alternately enthralled and terrified by the idea of creating life in the...

A man in a lab coat and gloves examines a purple DNA profile.
By Tina Hesman Saey, ScienceNews | 05.22.2018

In Nevada, 40,000 people are stepping up to the cutting edge of precision medicine. They are getting their DNA...

Close up of a man's hands typing on a laptop.
By Michael Price, Science Magazine | 05.22.2018

A little more than a year ago, Jedidiah Carlson was searching online for a 2008 paper in Natureanalyzing hundreds...

Two women sit together at a table. The woman to the right, a genetic counselor, holds a sheet of paper containing genetic information and speaks to the woman on the left.
By Sarah Elizabeth Richards, The Atlantic | 05.22.2018

In hindsight, clicking on the email from 23andMe at 10 p.m., alone, on a particularly cold March night probably wasn’t...

Close up of three 23andMe DNA sampling kits. The boxes are red, blue, white, and green and display the 23andMe logo.
By Tina Hesman Saey, ScienceNews | 05.22.2018

Direct-to-consumer genetic testing first came on the market about a decade ago, but I resisted the temptation to see what...

Close up of doctor's gloved hands holding a pipette and a test tube.
By Ike Swetlitz, STAT News | 05.22.2018

The Food and Drug Administration will soon be alerting companies that certain gene therapies in development can qualify for less...

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

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