News

This is Ask An Expert, where every weekday at 9:20am, KCBS Radio is giving you direct access to top experts in various fields. Today: Gene-editing technology allows scientists to work with DNA in unprecedented ways, but there are larger scientific...

For months, a small company in San Francisco has been pursuing a secretive project: the birth of a genetically engineered baby.

Backed by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and his husband, along with Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, the startup—called...

Pronatalism is an old idea with roots in eugenics and nationalism, that is now fashionable among far-right influencers and policymakers. They talk...

This is the 10th installment in the Legacies of Eugenics series, which features essays by leading thinkers devoted to exploring...

Gray scale photo of an adult hand holding baby's foot.
By Rosemary Bolger, SBS News | 12.12.2017

EXCLUSIVE: Demand for IVF in China has surged since the one-child policy was scrapped, but unmarried women are denied access...

Near a beach cliff, there is a warning sign that reads in bold letters "Danger"
By GMWatch, GMWatch | 12.11.2017

A CBS News story reports an attempt by the biohacker Josiah Zayner to genetically modify himself to have bigger muscles...

Spotlight in which a DNA model is projected as a hologram inside of a transparent, square glass bowl.
By Megan Molteni, Wired | 12.11.2017

In late 2012, French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier approached a handful of American scientists about starting a company, a Crispr company...

Graphic of brain neuron's being activated.
By Jim Kozubek, Aeon | 12.11.2017

First, let me tell you how smart I am. So smart. My fifth-grade teacher said I was gifted in...

A road is blocked, with a barrier and lights.
By Kristen V. Brown, Gizmodo | 12.11.2017

It seems hard to fathom that scientific progress has advanced to a point where it’s suddenly possible for people to...

Bird's eye view of three scissors that look the same, lined up on a white table. The two on the sides are slightly opened, while the middle is completely closed.
By Rebecca Robbins, STAT | 12.08.2017

CRISPR-Cas9 is complicated.

That’s why scientists, entrepreneurs, and journalists like me have spent the past few years reaching for metaphors...

Three people sit with their backs turned as they look at a massive wall art exhibition of black and white portraits of people's faces.
By Liberty Barnes and Jasmine Fledderjohann, The Conversation | 12.07.2017

Reproductive health is now seen as a basic human right. This includes the ability to have children. Large-scale population...

Rep. Trent Franks speaking with the media
By Mike DeBonis and Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Washington Post | 12.07.2017

Rep. Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican who is among the most conservative members of the House, said he would resign...