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
Figure 3. Fundus of patient with retinitis pigmentosa, end stage (Pigment deposits are present all over the retina. Retinal vessels are very thin and optic disc is pale.) Hamel Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 2006 1:40 doi:10.1186/1750-1172-1-40 (Wikimedia)

Texas Woman Is the First Person to Undergo Optogenetic Therapy

By Katherine Bourzac, MIT Technology Review | 03.18.2016
Untitled Document

A blind woman in Texas is the first person to undergo therapy based on an emerging technology called...

Genomics

A look inside the Czech Republic’s booming fertility holiday industry

By Amy Speier, The Conversation | 03.17.2016
Untitled Document

In 2008, a friend sent me a link to a Czech company called IVF Holiday. Clicking the link...

Global Governance
Statue of a young boy in the Reflection Garden at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon (Flickr/Mary Harrsch).

Jordan Schnitzer Gets a Son—and a Court Battle

By Nigel Jaquiss, Willamette Week | 03.16.2016
Untitled Document

Portland businessman Jordan Schnitzer owns a billion-dollar real estate portfolio. He has homes in San Francisco, Palm Springs...

Assisted Reproduction

Scientists develop new human stem cells with half a genome

By Bill Berkrot, Reuters | 03.16.2016
Untitled Document

Scientists for the first time have generated a type of embryonic stem cell that carries a single copy...

Assisted Reproduction

The Limits of Personalized Medicine

By Timothy Caulfield, The Atlantic | 03.16.2016
Untitled Document

Personalized medicine—the idea that genetic testing can reveal a person’s unique risks for various illnesses, as well as...

Genomics

The Government seem more interested in our genes than our voices

By Edward Hockings & Lewis Coyne, The Guardian | 03.15.2016
Untitled Document

This is a pivotal time for the future of human genetic technologies. New gene editing techniques such as...

Human Genetic Modification

If we’re not careful, epigenetics may bring back eugenic thinking

By Maurizio Meloni, The Conversation [UK] | 03.15.2016
Untitled Document

Epigenetics, the study of how environmental factors and lifestyle choices influence our genes, has flourished to become one...

Bioethics

Of evil mice and men: Can we blame crime on our genes?

By Alan Martin, Alphr | 03.14.2016
Untitled Document

This week, a number of newspapers announced an intriguing scientific discovery. The Telegraph...

Genomics