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

Monsanto, the Court and the Seeds of Dissent

By George Kimbrell and Debbie Barker, Los Angeles Times | 02.19.2013
On Tuesday, attorneys for the largest agrochemical corporation in the world, Monsanto, will present arguments before the Supreme Court asserting...
Bioethics

Desperate for Children, They Were Swindled Out of $2 Million

By Central Valley Business Times, Central Valley Business Times | 02.19.2013

Tonya Ann Collins, 37, formerly of Modesto, has pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of wire fraud in connection with...

Bioethics

The Brain is Not Computable

By Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 02.18.2013
Miguel Nicolelis, a top neuroscientist at Duke University, says computers will never replicate the human brain and that the...
Biotech & Pharma

Sale of Personal Gene Data Condemned as 'Unethical and Dangerous'

By Jamie Doward, The Guardian | 02.16.2013
Private firms will soon be able to buy people's medical and genetic data without their consent and, in certain cases...
Bioethics

Parents of Down's Syndrome Woman, 21, Can NOT Have her Sterilised, Rules Judge

By Daniel Miller, Daily Mail | 02.16.2013
The parents of an 'affectionate' 21-year-old woman with Down's syndrome have been forbidden from having her sterilised despite their concerns...
Biotech & Pharma

Cancer Group Loses Federal Court Bid Against Human Gene Patent

By Rick Morton, The Australian | 02.15.2013
Cancer Voices Australia brought the case as it believed Myriad Genetics Inc, which owns the patent on the genes BRCA1...
Bioethics

Exaggerations and Misrepresentations Have No Place in Science Policy Debates

By Jeremy Gruber, Council for Responsible Genetics | 02.15.2013
Yesterday Intelligence Squared held a debate (watch it in its entirety here) on whether we should prohibit genetically...
Human Genetic Modification

Synthetic Biology and the “Bioeconomy”: Feeding Fuel to the Fire of Landgrabs and Biodiversity Loss

By Eric Hoffman and Jeff Conant, Global Forest Coalition | 02.14.2013

[For footnotes, see here]

The industrial revolution replaced wood for fossil fuels as the driver of the engine of...

Global Governance