News

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...

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...

Without a federal law, surrogacy in the U.S. is governed by a patchwork of state regulations/

Why it matters: Confusing...

"MC0_8230" via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 2.0 

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

Three diploid chromosomes
By Carolyn Abraham, The Globe and Mail | 02.03.2018

Ever since DNA was first used in 1986 to catch a killer, it's swashbuckled its way through society as an almost infallible...

Wooden gravel with faded grey background
By Japan Times, Japan Times | 02.02.2018

Lawyers in five cities set up telephone counseling hotlines Friday for individuals who were forced into sterilization or affected by...

Illustration of cells
By Pete Shanks, Medium | 02.02.2018

Let’s Not Distort Debates about Human Cloning and Heritable Gene Editing

Cloning is back in the headlines. Researchers managed to...

Pregnant woman holding her stomach
By Ian Sample, The Guardian | 02.01.2018

Doctors in Newcastle have been granted permission to create Britain’s first “three-person babies” for two women who are at risk...

Scientist using pipette in a green solution.
By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 01.31.2018

Toxic effects seen in animals raise questions about new gene therapies for children.

An influential scientist involved in gene therapy’s...

Sad woman resting her head on her arm
By Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post | 01.27.2018

Brigitte Adams caused a sensation four years ago when she appeared on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek under the headline...

Black and white photo of the palm of an adult's hands  holding a newborn's feet.
By Leila Fadel, NPR | 01.26.2018

Aiden and Ethan Dvash-Banks share pretty much everything. The 16-month-old twins were born four minutes apart, from the same womb...

A black woman kisses a young black girl with joy and love expressed on their faces. In the background, there is a city back drop with other people walking on the sidewalk is featured, but out of focus and blurred.
By Carl Zimmer, New York Times | 01.25.2018

For centuries, people have drawn the line between nature and nurture.

In the nineteenth century, the English polymath Francis Galton...