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

New gene therapy births 'designer baby' fears

By Gavin O'Toole, Al Jazeera (English) | 04.03.2013
London, UK - Fertility regulators in the UK have paved the way for the introduction of a radical form of...
Human Genetic Modification

Tough Calls on Prenatal Tests

By Christopher Weaver, Wall Street Journal | 04.03.2013
New prenatal blood tests for genetic abnormalities such as Down syndrome are reshaping care for expectant mothers, but their rapid...
Assisted Reproduction

Come and get it: how sperm became one of America's hottest exports

By Brooke Jarvis, The Verge | 04.02.2013
I'd been friends with Chris for years when he mentioned, casually, that he's a father.

Or probably is - as...
Biotech & Pharma

Wake Forest examines eugenics here and abroad

By John Hinton, Winston-Salem Journal | 04.02.2013

North Carolina's program of forced sterilization for social purposes shares an infamous place in history with the eugenics movement elsewhere...

Other Countries

Can We Patent Life?

By Michael Specter, The New Yorker | 04.02.2013
On April 12, 1955, Jonas Salk, who had recently invented the polio vaccine, appeared on the television news show "See...
Biotech & Pharma

Not every woman should get the BRCA gene test, U.S. task force says

By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times | 04.01.2013
Certain mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can increase a woman's chances of developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer...
Reproductive Justice, Health & Rights

Sex-Selective Discrimination Common in Indian Wombs: US Study

By Hindustan Times, Hindustan Times | 03.31.2013

Indian women carrying male foetuses are likelier to receive pre-natal medical care than their counterparts pregnant with girls, a new...

Other Countries

New Technology Can Make It So 1 Baby Has 3 Parents

By CBS, CBS New York [Quotes CGS's Marcy Darnovsky] | 03.29.2013

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — New technology could bring babies into the world with three biological parents. The procedure is close...

Human Genetic Modification