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...

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...

Five illustrated sperm cells "swim" toward the upper left corner.
By Wendy Kramer, BioNews | 02.27.2017

Since 2000, the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR) has connected more than 14,000 donor-conceived individuals with their donors and half-siblings. We've...

A white infant stares directly, with blue eyes. The baby's mouth is slightly opened.
By Marcy Darnovsky, Bioscience Technology | 02.27.2017

Over the past few years, researchers have developed a set of powerful new techniques for altering and synthesizing DNA. These...