News

'Superbabies' Startup Seeks Funds for Controversial Gene Editing Push

By Sophie Alexander and Ike Swetlitz, Bloomberg | 06.25.2025

A California-startup focused on genetically editing human embryos — a step toward creating so-called designer babies — is raising money as many of Silicon Valley’s ultra-rich turn their attention to one of the most controversial technologies in medicine.

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Patents & Other IP

Can doctors test embryos for autism? And should they?

By Brittany Luse, Liam McBain, and Neena Pathak, NPR [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.28.2025

A newly available kind of genetic testing, called polygenic embryo screening, promises to screen for conditions that can include cancer, obesity, autism, bipolar disorder, even celiac disease. These conditions are informed by many genetic variants and environmental factors - so...

Genetic Selection

Why Deleting Your 23andMe Data Is a Political Imperative

By Katie Sagaser, The DNA Exchange | 05.27.2025

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this piece are solely my own and do not represent those of my...

U.S. Federal

Trumpian “Common Sense” and the History of IQ Tests

By Pepper Stetler, Los Angeles Review of Books | 05.08.2025

"Donald Trump Signs The Pledge" by Michael Vadon 
is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

This is...

Society

Female Inmates Sterilized in California Prisons Without Approval

By Corey G. Johnson, Center for Investigative Reporting | 07.07.2013
Doctors under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilized nearly 150 female inmates from 2006 to 2010...
Human Rights

Eggs and Cash: Stem Cell Agency Considering Easing Restrictions on Stem Cell Lines Derived Using Payments

By David Jensen, California Stem Cell Report | 07.07.2013
The California stem cell agency is moving to remove an absolute ban on use of stem cell lines derived from...
Bioethics

Guilty Knowledge

By Fiona MacDonald, The Sydney Morning Herald | 07.06.2013
If things had gone a bit differently, neurocriminologist Adrian Raine could easily have been a murderer, or a rapist –...
Civil Society

Reported IVF Success Rates can be Misleading: Study

By Genevra Pittman, Reuters | 07.04.2013
Researchers looked at a database maintained by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SART) and found the proportion of cycles...
Public Opinion

The Rise of a New Eugenics

By Lloyd Lewis and Julie Reiskin, Denver Post | 07.04.2013

Eugenics was a disturbing sociopolitical movement in the early 20th century that promoted reproduction of the "fittest" and limited reproduction...

Genomics

Jeremy Hunt launches genomics body to oversee healthcare revolution

By Randeep Ramesh, The Guardian | 07.04.2013
The health secretary is launching a new government organisation to oversee the creation of a genomic revolution in healthcare that...
Biotech & Pharma

Egg Donation is Made to Look Easy, but Questions and Health Risks Remain

By Ryann Summers, Our Bodies Our Blog | 07.03.2013
Recently, a former co-worker and his romantic partner sent me a text message that left me reeling.

It essentially read:...
Bioethics

Expansion Of The Genetic Surveillance State: Taking The Blood Of Babies Born To Mississippi Teens

By Kashmir Hill, Forbes | 07.02.2013
In what sounds like a plot twist from a dystopic-future novel, Mississippi is now requiring hospitals to store the blood...
U.S. States