News

These companies help parents try to pick their babies' traits. Experts are wary

By Rob Stein, NPR [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.06.2026

Justin Schleede reaches onto a black lab bench to pick up a tray of small plastic tubes.

"These are saliva samples as well as blood," says Schleede, a geneticist who runs Herasight Inc.'s lab in Morrisville, N.C. "We also...

Genetic Selection

The Measured Listener

By Daniel Shanahan, Los Angeles Review of Books | 05.31.2026

This is the 15th 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. You can read the first part here. The series...

U.S. States

The start-ups dreaming of creating genetically modified babies

By Alexandre Piquard, Le Monde [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.22.2026

"If proven to be safe, we believe preventive gene editing could be one of the most important health technologies of...

U.S. Federal

Natural Election

By Jonathan Basile, Los Ángeles Review of Books | 04.29.2026

WILLIAM BATESON, a foundational figure in the science of genetics at the turn of the last century, once recounted the...

Society

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

Embryo-Like Stem Cells Enter First Human Trial

By David Cyranoski, Nature | 02.14.2013
It will be the first clinical study to put induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into humans — and where more...
Biotech & Pharma

Stem Cells in Texas: Cowboy Culture

By David Cyranoski, Nature | 02.13.2013
Ann McFarlane is losing faith. In the first half of 2012, the Houston resident received four infusions of adult stem...
U.S. States

Study: Sex-Selective Practices May be Common in Families of Indian Doctors

By Rama Lakshmi, The Washington Post | 02.13.2013
Doctors’ families in India are having more sons than daughters, reports a new study in the American journal Demography...
Bioethics

Yes, Virginia, Your Reproductive Rights Are Compromised

By Alex Stern, Huffington Post | 02.12.2013
Like many states where political battles about reproductive rights are front and center, Virginia is a hotbed of legislative activity...
Other Countries

Too Much Information

By Brandon L. Garrett and Erin Murphy, Slate | 02.12.2013
In April 2009, police easily arrested Alonzo J. King, Jr. in Wicomico County, Md. After King pointed a shotgun at...
Genomics

Mice Fall Short as Test Subjects for Humans’ Deadly Ills

By Gina Kolata, The New York Times | 02.11.2013
For decades, mice have been the species of choice in the study of human diseases. But now, researchers report evidence...
Biotech & Pharma

Gene Thought to be Linked to Alzheimer's is Marker for Only Mild Impairment

By Susan Kelley, Cornell Chronicle | 02.11.2013

Defying the widely held belief that a specific gene is the biggest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, two Cornell developmental...

Genomics