News

Cathy Tie slips on a white lab coat bearing her name and the logo of her startup: Origin Genomics. "Welcome!" she says as she leads an NPR reporter, photographer and videographer on an exclusive tour of Origin's labs located...

This is the 17th 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 Osagie K. Obasogie in...

THE INSTAGRAM POST, precision-guided by sex and age, had zeroed in on its target. Yuchen Tu is a conser­vatory-trained viola...

This is the 16th installment in the Legacies of Eugenics series, which features essays by leading thinkers devoted to exploring...

A pregnant woman sits on patient bed in a doctor's office, with right hand caressing stomach.
By Catherine Joynson, Nuffield Blog | 03.09.2017

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ report on non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) was published last week, with a launch event 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...