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

The ethical and social concerns of modifying our DNA

By Devin Powell, Washington Post | 08.03.2015
Ethical and social concerns about modifying DNA include whether parents have a right to tweak the genetic makeup of their...
Human Genetic Modification

Bioethical Silence & Black Lives

By Derek Ayeh, Voices in Bioethics | 08.03.2015

When confirmation was released that researchers from China had genetically modified human embryos for the first time ever, there was...

Racial Justice

Are Milder IVF Methods the Way Forward?

By Ruth Wood, The Telegraph | 08.03.2015

Crystal the chihuahua is a reminder to Mandy Bond of how she almost gave up on becoming a mother. She...

Bioethics

'Gene Drive': Scientists Sound Alarm Over Supercharged GM Organisms Which Could Spread in the Wild and Cause Environmental Disasters

By Steve Connor, The Independent | 08.02.2015
Untitled Document

A powerful new technique for generating “supercharged” genetically modified organisms that can spread rapidly in the wild has...

Bioethics

Price and Prejudice: How Ads for Egg Donation are Starting to Sound like Matrimonials

By Ipsita Chakravarty, Scroll.in | 08.02.2015

The advertisement was seeking a woman with a “high intelligence quotient, fair or wheatish complexion, between 22-26 yrs. Preferably B...

Other Countries

Four Problems with the DNA Database

By Sharon Fernandes, Times of India | 08.02.2015

Untitled Document India's Human DNA Profiling Bill 2015 proposes to set up a national DNA database of criminals that will...

Bioethics

UC Irvine to Exhibit Artworks Created via Biological Engineering

By Mike Boehm, Los Angeles Times | 07.31.2015
Untitled Document

UC Irvine has put out a call for artists who want to manipulate the building blocks of life...

Bioethics

CRISPR/Cas Gene-Editing Technique Holds Great Promise, but Research Moratorium Makes Sense Pending Further Study

By Jeff Bessen, The Conversation | 07.29.2015
Untitled Document

CRISPR/Cas is a new technology that allows unprecedented control over the DNA code. It’s sparked a revolution in...

Bioethics