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...

Bird's eye view of the side of a pale skinned pregnant woman, with an exposed stomach, who uses one hand to grasp her stomach, and the other to hold up a sonogram of the baby.
By Anastasia Maunilova, News Deeply | 11.23.2017

Russia’s rapidly developing surrogate industry may now grind to a halt, as members of the parliament debate banning the practice...

Scanning electromicrograph of an HIV-infected T cell
By Jessica Lussenhop, BBC | 11.21.2017

The moment Tristan Roberts became the first human to inject an untested, experimental gene therapy into his stomach fat, he...

A nurse examines a newborn baby through an incubator.
By Sophie Bearman, CNBC | 11.20.2017

In 1997, Debbie and Frank Astorino welcomed three children into the world, triplets Kevin, Kerri and Sheri.

The Astorinos had...

Close up of a runner, running up cement stairs.
By Angela Chen, The Verge | 11.20.2017

In January of this year, I decided I would complete a half-marathon. I would push my body to the limit...

Gloved hands touch an illuminated image of molecular DNA feature on gel.
By Angela Helm, The Root | 11.19.2017

We all have those people in our family or close circle who are just like Martin Lawrence’s character in Boomerang: ...

A book lies open, with a judge's gavel resting on top.
By Kristen V. Brown, Gizmodo | 11.17.2017

For the better part of the last three years, the introduction of the most powerful gene editing technology ever invented...

A short-tail weasel peaks its head out of rocks.
By Carl Zimmer, New York Times | 11.16.2017

In 2013, scientists discovered a new way to precisely edit genes — technology called Crispr that raised all sorts of...

Close up of microscopic image of egg and sperm fertilization
By Carrie Arnold, Quanta Magazine | 11.15.2017

In the winner-takes-all game of fertilization, millions of sperm race toward the egg that’s waiting at the finish line. Plenty...