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

[UK] NHS patient data to be made available for sale to drug and insurance firms

By Randeep Ramesh, The Guardian | 01.19.2014

Drug and insurance companies will from later this year be able to buy information on patients – including mental health...

Biopolitics

How Blind People See Race

By Francie Latour, Boston Globe | 01.19.2014
IN MARTIN LUTHER King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech, he yearned for a time when Americans would “not...
Racial Justice

There’s a Gene for That

By Pankaj Mehta, Jacobin | 01.18.2014

If you want to understand why humans wage wars, there is a gene for that. Want to understand why men...

Genomics

Google, Tell Me. Is My Son a Genius?

By Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, New York Times | 01.18.2014
MORE than a decade into the 21st century, we would like to think that American parents have similar standards and...
Genetic Selection

The FDA Is Not Anti-Genetics

By Michael White, Pacific Standard | 01.17.2014
When the FDA shut down biotech company 23andMe’s direct-to-consumer Personal Genome Service, many in the biotech community worried that the...
Biotech & Pharma

FDA approves genetic test that screens infants for predictors of mental disabilities

By Matthew Perrone, Associated Press | 01.17.2014

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration on Friday cleared a first-of-a-kind blood test that can help diagnose mental disabilities...

Genomics

The UK's Deplorable Witch Hunt Against Asian Women

By Marge Berer, RH Reality Check | 01.16.2014
If you are concerned about gender discrimination – that is, discrimination against girls and women – what would you do...
Genetic Selection

Could Glow-in-the-Dark Tobacco Plants Light Up the Living Rooms of the Future?

By Kristin Hohenadel, Slate | 01.15.2014

Glowing plants - as seen in the seemingly fantastical flora of the 2009 film Avatar - are no longer just...

Genomics