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

The Narcissism of De-Extinction

By Hannah Waters, Scientific American | 03.15.2013
The TedxDeExtinction conference, discussing how and whether to resurrect extinct species from DNA, is happening right now, today, on the...
Human Cloning

Eugenics Fear Over Gene Modification

By David King et al., The Guardian | 03.15.2013

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is considering whether to recommend legalisation of "mitochondrial replacement" techniques designed to avoid the...

Genetic Selection

‘Business has Boomed’: Canadian Surrogacy Agent Facing 27 Charges Continues her Controversial Work

By Tom Blackwell, National Post | 03.13.2013

A surrogacy agent facing 27 charges under a precedent-setting RCMP prosecution continues to forge ahead with her controversial work, offering...

Other Countries

DNA Tool Kit Goes Live Online

By Ewen Callaway, Nature | 03.12.2013
The latest shopping website is open for business, offering unusual wares: DNA tools to help biologists to engineer life.

The...
Biotech & Pharma

If Your Dog is About to Die, Why Not Clone It?

By Leo Hickman, Guardian | 03.11.2013
Insung Hwang's business, according to his website, is "healing broken hearts". Specifically those of people who have lost a beloved...
Other Countries

The British Embryo Authority and the Chamber of Eugenics

By Stuart A. Newman, Huffington Post | 03.11.2013
Scene: A laboratory setting. A scientist begins constructing a new individual by combining parts from two different humans. A new...
Genetic Selection

Book Review: Transhumanist Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares

By John Galloway, BioNews | 03.11.2013
Perhaps fortuitously, I started to read Maxwell Mehlman's book at the same time as Roy Porter's 'A Short...
Synthetic Biology

Clinic Ships in Eggs From US 'Bank' to Tackle Shortage

By Julia Medew, The Sydney Morning Herald | 03.10.2013
Australians have started paying $19,000 to import eggs from American women under a new deal that will provide hope to...
Other Countries