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...

Model of an egg surrounded by sperm, and illuminated by a light angled from above.
By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 08.07.2017

Scientists are trying to manufacture eggs and sperm in the laboratory. Will it end reproduction as we know it?

Let’s...

An empty room with several rows of chairs facing a stage with a screen that reads "FDA"
By Kristen V. Brown, Gizmodo | 08.07.2017

John Zhang, a New York fertility doctor, wanted to push the boundaries of science and fertility by giving women at...

FDA building and sign
By Rachel Becker, The Verge [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.05.2017

On Friday, FDA sent him a letter notifying him of his violations

The doctor who created a genetically modified “three-parent...

An incomplete puzzle featuring an image of a double helix, with several pieces scattered around the puzzle.
By Pam Belluck, New York Times [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.04.2017

Now that science is a big step closer to being able to fiddle with the genes of a human embryo...

A DNA molecule is positioned toward the left. In the background, there are several floating molecules. The background is a gradient blue,
By Editorial Board, Los Angeles Times | 08.03.2017

In a process that can be likened to the creation of GMO crops, scientists have edited genes in human embryos...

Two young girls face each other, and both appear to be using American Sign Language to communicate. They seem to be signing gum, candy, or apple.
By Rachel Kolb and Dakota McCoy, San Francisco Chronicle | 08.03.2017

Last month, researchers in Oregon broke new scientific ground when they used CRISPR/Cas-9 to genetically modify human embryos, a first...

Protesters hold a yellow sign that reads, "race to the bottom??"
By Craig Calhoun, The World Post | 08.03.2017

Unless we pay much more attention to ethical and social choices, we risk turning the promise of gene editing into

...
Double helix figure that is diagonally positioned. Several base pairs are highlighted with different colors.
By Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.02.2017

Scientists have successfully edited the DNA of human embryos to erase a heritable heart condition that is known for causing sudden death...