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

Tesla, Eugenics And Rationalizing Dehumanization

By Alex Knapp, Forbes | 11.19.2012
Last Friday, the great blogger Matt Novak (who you should read often) uncovered evidence that Nikola Tesla, writing in 1935...
Bioethics

With Animals Under Threat, Brazilian Team Aims to Clone 8 Wild Species

By Jenny Barchfield, The Washington Post | 11.15.2012
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian researchers are turning to cloning to help fight the perilous decline of several animal species...
Other Countries

Heat Monitor's Fertile Ground for Would-be Parents

By Amy Wilson, Telegraph [UK] | 11.13.2012
Most entrepreneurs care deeply about their businesses but they’re not usually reduced to tears by a successful sale.

For Oriane...
Biotech & Pharma

E.U. Patents on Transgenic Chimps Challenged

By Kai Kupferschmidt, Science Insider | 11.13.2012
Animal rights activists in Germany are contesting three patents on genetically engineered chimpanzees granted this year by the European Patent...
Human Genetic Modification

The Eugenic Impulse

By Nathaniel Comfort, The Chronicle of Higher Education | 11.12.2012
"The ultimate ideal sought," wrote Harvey Ernest Jordan in 1912, "is a perfect society constituted of perfect individuals." Jordan, who...
Genomics

Ethicists Debate How to Tell Patients Secrets in their Genome

By Monya Baker, Nature | 11.10.2012
If parents have a son’s genes sequenced in hopes of explaining extreme muscle weakness, should they also be told whether...
Bioethics

Identical Twins Are Genetically Different, Research Suggests

By Tia Ghose, LiveScience | 11.09.2012
SAN FRANCISCO – Identical twins may not be so identical after all. Even though identical twins supposedly share all of...
Genomics

Social Codes: Sharing Your Genes Online

By Daniela Hernandez, Wired | 11.09.2012
Genes are going mobile. In September, consumer genomics company 23andMe announced it was opening its API, the program that allows...
Technologies