News

Surrogacy goes more mainstream

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Emily Galpern] | 03.29.2026

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...

U.S. Federal

Eugenics and the Modern Synthesis, Part I

By Jessica Riskin, Los Ángeles Review of Books | 03.23.2026

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...

Civil Society

Surrogacy laws are all over the map

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Surrogacy360] | 03.29.2026

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

Why it matters: Confusing...

Policies

Project Eugenics: The Rollback of Disability Rights

By Kiana Jackson and Shannon Stubblefield, New Disabled South | 02.09.2026

^{"MC0_8230" via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 2.0}

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

U.S. States

Trump and MAGA want to make eugenics great again

By Loren Johnston, Portland Press Herald | 03.15.2025

^{“Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Prescott Valley Event Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona” by...}

Biopolitics

Scientist Jailed for Gene Hacking Babies Says Ethics Are Holding Back Progress

By Luis Prada, Vice | 03.14.2025

^{public domain photo by Voice of America via Wikimedia Commons}

Back in 2019, Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui proudly announced to...

Other Countries

A New Scientific Field Is Recasting Who We Are and How We Got That Way

By Dalton Conley, The New York Times | 03.13.2025

Since Francis Galton coined the phrase “nature versus nurture” 150 years ago, the debate about what makes us who we...

Genomics

U.N. Accuses Israel of Targeting Reproductive Health Facilities in Gaza

By Nick Cumming-Bruce, New York Times | 03.13.2025

A United Nations commission on Thursday accused Israel of targeting hospitals and other health facilities in Gaza that provide reproductive...

Other Countries

The rise of pronatalism: why Musk, Vance and the right want women to have more babies

By Carter Sherman, The Guardian | 03.11.2025

In his first address to the United States after becoming vice-president, JD Vance stood on stage and proclaimed: “I want...

Biopolitics

China’s Autonomous Agent, Manus, Changes Everything

By Craig S. Smith, Forbes | 03.08.2025

One recent evening in Shenzhen, a group of software engineers gathered in a dimly lit co-working space, furiously typing as...

Other Countries

IVF Patients Say a Test Caused Them to Discard Embryos. Now They’re Suing

By Jamie Ducharme, TIME | 03.06.2025

After struggling for eight years to have a baby, Shannon Petersen and her husband decided to try in vitro fertilization...

Genetic Selection

Fifty years after ‘Asilomar,’ scientists meet again to debate biotech’s modern-day threats

By Jon Cohen, Science | 03.05.2025

^{Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash}

On a nearly still and moonlit night last week, some 75 people formed a circle...

Policies