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...

Someone in a laboratory wears gloves on their hands, as they place a test tube filled with liquid into a centrifuge machine. Other laboratory equipment surrounds the room.
By Richard Harris, NPR | 12.31.2017

Federal taxpayers are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a quest for blood samples, medical information and fitness readouts...

A triangular warning sign posted against a wooden post. The sign is yellow, with a figurine that is slipping on water.
By Paul J. Hauptman, STAT News | 12.29.2017

We are witnessing great promise in medicine today. The vocabulary dazzles: “precision medicine,” “stem cells,” “moon shot,” and other terms...

Gray scale image of a Frankenstein character.
By Brian Bergstein, Neo.Life | 12.28.2017

What “Frankenstein” and the golem tell us about the power and responsibility of science.

January 1 marks the 200th anniversary of...

An illuminated wall display featuring multi-colored letters of ATCG.
By Deng Xiaoci, Global Times | 12.28.2017

The world's largest human genome research project of 100,000 people was launched by China on Thursday to document their genetic...

Inside of a 23andMe packaging spit kit. On the right of the box, there is text that outlines instructions on how to submit a DNA sample. On the left, there are tools.
By Michael Schulson , Undark | 12.28.2017

Submitting a vial of spit to a genetic testing company is easy. Understanding the implications — and regulating the burgeoning...

Grayscale photo of two women who are sitting next to each other, looking at each other's smartphones.
By Elissa Strauss, Glamour Magazine [cites CGS' Fellow Gina Maranto] | 12.28.2017

New evidence shows that the tests many companies use to determine a woman's chances of having a baby are based...

A patient looks through an eye doctor's instrument, which covers their face almost completely.
By Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic | 12.27.2017

Some blind people are questioning how the first gene therapy to treat inherited blindness has been valued.

Among blind people...

A person in a lab coat and gloved hands uses tongs to life up a bottle that has been stored in cryopreservation
By Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic | 12.21.2017

Emma Wren Gibson, frozen as an embryo in 1992, was born a few days after Thanksgiving in 2017, more than...