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...

Two dusted hands knead dough on a floured wooden counter.
By Rob Stein, NPR | 03.09.2017

Scientists have taken another important step toward creating different types of synthetic life in the laboratory.

An international research consortium ...

Illustrated representation of a double helix, titled on its side so that it goes from the upper right of the photo to the bottom left.
By Ricki Lewis, Public Library of Science | 03.09.2017

A bill that passed its first hurdle yesterday in Congress threatens to take away genetic privacy protections put in place...

Close-up of a gloved hand gently picking up a petri dish, filled of cell culture.
By Kristen V. Brown, Gizmodo | 03.07.2017

Using stem cells in grown-on 3D scaffolding in a laboratory petri dish, scientists have for the first time created an...

A close up photo showing a tangled knot, that is being pulled in four directions.
By Tom Philpott, Mother Jones | 03.05.2017

Researchers allege undisclosed conflicts of interest on a National Academies of Sciences panel.

About a year ago, the prestigious National...

Two young children mirror each other in communicating through American Sign Language (possibly signing gum or candy).
By Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Impact Ethics | 03.02.2017

Typically, gene therapy involves combining a therapeutic gene with a vehicle known as a viral vector. This vector is used...

Three cotton swabs stand inside of a see-through glass container.
By Charles Piller, STAT | 02.28.2017

For doctors, the brochure from a California medical laboratory sounded like easy money: $30 for every person enrolled in a...

A feminine figure is sitting, holding a clock between her arms. The figure herself is out of focus.
By Angelina Chapin, New York Magazine [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 02.28.2017

When Jo Dhesi froze her eggs in early February she chose to avoid the typical fertility clinic. Instead, the newly...

A one-hundred dollar bill is cut into pieces on  a cutting board. Below the bill is a kitchen knife.
By David Malakoff, Science | 02.27.2017

The chunk of the federal budget that includes most of the U.S. government’s spending on basic science would shrink by...