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...

Microscopic close-up of an eight-cell embryo.
By Tina Hesman Saey, ScienceNews | 12.13.2017

Debates about when and how to use the tool in humans take on new urgency

Scientists reported selectively altering genes...

Colorful chart showing ATCG
By Olivia Nash, Brown Political Review Magazine | 12.13.2017

Genetic testing is one of the most groundbreaking technologies of the modern age. The advent of human genome sequencing has...

Several labeled test tubes are positioned on a rack, with a person's hand reading for one.
By Craig Venter, Washington Post | 12.13.2017

Recent leaps in the biosciences, combined with big data analysis, have led us to the cusp of a revolution in...

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...

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...