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
Cultured HeLa cells [Wikimedia]

What Stem Cell Researchers Talk About When They Talk About Ethics

By Danielle Venton, KQED | 10.18.2016

This year marks an anniversary that in all probability flew under your radar: The iPSC is 10-years-old.

Great! you say. What’s...

Genomics
Three mice lay on top of each other, in a burrowed hole.

Mouse eggs made from skin cells in a dish

By David Cyranoski, Nature | 10.17.2016

In a tour de force of reproductive biology, scientists in Japan have transformed mouse skin cells into eggs in a...

Reproductive Justice, Health & Rights
Black and white image. A woman sits peering down, on the long hand of a clock. The clock reads 10:15.

Meet Prelude Fertility, The $200 Million Startup That Wants To Stop The Biological Clock

By Miguel Helft, Forbes [citing CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 10.17.2016

Even among the hyperactive overachieving techies in his cohort, Martin Varsavsky stands out. He’s built more successful businesses–six–than all but...

Assisted Reproduction
A bird shell is broken open, with outlines of cracks along its surface,

The Misleading Promise of I.V.F. for Women Over 40

By Jane E. Brody, The New York Times | 10.17.2016

Many young women were understandably seduced by the once widely publicized message that if they chose to delay pregnancy and...

Biopolitics
A bottle of prescribed morphine lays open. Light blue morphine tablets surround the bottle. Credit card appears out of focus in the background.

Can a DNA Test Really Predict Opiate Addiction?

By Zachary Siegel, The Daily Beast | 10.15.2016

"Right this minute I’m detoxing like hell,” James, an opioid user, said.  On top of feeling fatigued but unable to...

Bioethics
Action shot of a drink spilling over its capacity.

DNA database could help predict your disease — then get you fired

By David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times | 10.14.2016

Relatively little attention was paid last year when President Obama called for creation of a database containing the DNA of...

Reproductive Justice, Health & Rights
In reference to Douglas Adam's sci-fi novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," an ambiguous device reads "Don't Panic" in bold, red letters. On the side, the text reads "Earth Mostly Harmless."

Advocacy group anecdotes present one-sided picture of genetic testing for breast cancer

By Mary Chris Jaklevic, Health News Review | 10.13.2016

Genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer risk is cheaper and easier than ever. But just because a test is...

Bioethics
The sky with blue skies and a few white clouds. Subtly visible, there are floating dollar bill signs.

Science group seeks to guide Silicon Valley philanthropists

By Erika Check Hayden, Nature News | 10.13.2016

Poring over a list of the top 50 US philanthropists in 2014, physicist Marc Kastner noticed that 16 were based...

Biopolitics