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.

Bootstrap Bio...

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

Shame and Guilt in Minnesota

By Carl Elliott, Bioethics Forum | 04.24.2013
Over the past month, a petition asking the governor of Minnesota to investigate a research scandal at the University of...
Human Rights

Grandma's Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes

By Dan Hurley, Discover | 04.23.2013
Darwin and Freud walk into a bar. Two alcoholic mice — a mother and her son — sit on two...
Genomics

Prenatal DNA Sequencing

By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 04.23.2013
Earlier this year Illumina, the maker of the world’s most widely used DNA sequencing machines, agreed to pay nearly half...
Bioethics

Boston IVF Receives $1 Million From U.S. Health and Human Services To Develop National Protocol To Promote The Use Of Embryo Donation As A Family Building Option

By Press Release, The Wall Street Journal | 04.23.2013

BOSTON, April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston IVF, a leading medical practice providing specialized infertility treatment since 1986, has received...

Reproductive Justice, Health & Rights

Nuffield Report: Parents Should Decide Whether or Not to 'Tell'

By Wybo Dondorp, BioNews | 04.22.2013
Last week, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics presented its report on ethical aspects of information sharing in donor conception. Although...
Global Governance

The Baby Blueprint [VIDEO]

By Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English [With CGS's Marcy Darnovsky] | 04.22.2013

If you had the option, would you use genetic engineering to choose certain traits for your children? But beyond picking...

Genetic Selection

That “Pernicious” Notion of the “Best Interests of the Child”

By Michael Cook, BioEdge | 04.20.2013
Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states what everyone considers to be a...
Human Rights

In Australia, Gene Patents Also Subject of High Court Struggle

By Leigh Dayton, Science | 04.19.2013
The U.S. Supreme Court isn't the only high court considering a precedent-setting case on patenting human genes. Australia's Full Federal...
Other Countries