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 Dark Matter of Psychiatric Genetics”

By Carl Zimmer, National Geographic | 12.20.2013
The title of my blog post is provocative, I know, but I’m actually just lifting it from the title of...
Genomics

Past Sperm and Egg Donors Split on Losing Anonymity

By Shereen Jegtvig, Reuters | 12.20.2013
(Reuters Health) - People who donated sperm and eggs before 1998 in one Australian state were able to remain anonymous...
Other Countries

Biopolitical News of the Year 2013

By Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 12.19.2013

For better and worse, 2013 has been a year in which several related issues familiar to those who follow human...

Technologies

Non-Invasive Method Devised to Sequence DNA of Human Eggs

By Erika Check Hayden, Nature | 12.19.2013
Researchers have  for the first time determined the genome sequence of human egg cells without destroying them.

The feat, reported...
Genetic Selection

Q&A: The 5 Big Questions in Brain Science

By Dan Vergano, National Geographic | 12.19.2013
Advances in our understanding of the brain have turned neuroscience into one of the hottest frontiers in research, and in...
Bioethics

Patient’s Suicide Forces Belated University Investigation

By David Cyranoski, Nature | 12.19.2013
In May 2004 Daniel Markingson, a patient with schizophrenia in an anti-psychotic drug trial at the University of Minnesota in...
Biotech & Pharma

Turning Back Time: Ageing Reversed in Mice

By Laasya Samhita, New Scientist | 12.19.2013
Imagine if we could turn back time. A team that has identified a new way in which cells age has...
Biotech & Pharma

TANIA SIMONCELLI: Gene Patent Foe

By Heidi Ledford, Nature | 12.18.2013
In 2005, Tania Simoncelli managed to shock the senior lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Simoncelli, the organization’s...
Bioethics