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

a multicolor DNA strand dissolving onto a yellow background

The DNA Test Delusion

By Kristen V. Brown, Bloomberg | 05.14.2024

Answers to our greatest questions, we were told about a decade ago, could be ours if we just spat in...

Patents & Other IP

A ‘miracle cure’ for deafness? For people like me, here’s why that isn’t our dream

By Oliver James Campbell, The Guardian | 05.13.2024

As someone who has been hard of hearing since I was a teenager, I read with great interest about the...

Society

Man is shown typing on his laptop analyzing various data visualizations, such as pie charts, line graphs and bar graphs.

Americans overwhelmingly say access to IVF is a good thing

By Gabriel Borelli, Pew Research Center | 05.13.2024

^{Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash}

The political debate around access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) intensified this year, following...

U.S. Federal

Image shows a pediatrician with short blond hair inspecting a baby's right ear.

Deaf baby hears for the first time after ‘groundbreaking’ gene therapy trial

By Victoria Bisset and Adela Suliman, The Washington Post | 05.09.2024

^{Photo by CDC from Unsplash}

A baby girl born with profound genetic deafness can now hear unaided after receiving a...

Human Genetic Modification

A gay couple couldn’t access IVF benefits. They’re suing New York City.

By Maham Javaid, The Washington Post | 05.09.2024

^{"New York City Hall" by Aude is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 DEED}

New York City is denying...

Policies

After CRISPR baby scandal shut down work for years, China gene editing companies are restarting clinical trials

By Ryan Cross, Endpoints News | 05.08.2024

A half-decade after a scientist’s reckless experiment with human embryos put a stop to much of China’s clinical work on...

Human Genetic Modification

Boy Dosed with Pfizer DMD Gene Therapy Dies a Year after Phase II Trial

By Alex Philippidis, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | 05.07.2024

Pfizer has paused enrollment in a Phase III trial assessing its Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene therapy candidate fordadistrogene movaparvovec...

Patents & Other IP

rendering of ivf process with Petri dish

The Parents Who Want Daughters—and Daughters Only

By Emi Nietfeld, Slate | 05.07.2024

Amy Yin always envisioned having at least two daughters. She spent her 20s working as an engineer and founding...

Assisted Reproduction