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.

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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
genetic selection graphic

Should Human Life Be Optimized?

By Anna Louie Sussman, The New York Times | 04.01.2025

When Noor Siddiqui was growing up, her mother developed retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that leads to gradual vision loss. When...

Genetic Selection
DNA graphic

23andMe’s DNA data is going up for sale. Here’s why companies might want it

By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 03.30.2025

23andMe, a standard-bearer for the at-home health movement, announced on March 23 that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy...

Society
gene editing graphic

At meeting on guardrails for gene editing of human embryos, some call for a dead end

By Megan Molteni, Stat | 03.28.2025

WASHINGTON — Keith Joung knows better than a lot of people what, exactly, it might require to prove to regulators...

Policies
CRISPR graphic

Experts Discuss Guardrails for Heritable Human Genome Editing

By Kevin Davies, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | 03.27.2025

Around 2018–19, there was not a bigger science and ethical story than the debate over heritable human genome editing (HHGE)...

Genomics
Donald Trump

The US right is coming for disabled people. Here’s why that threatens everyone

By Sara Nović, The Guardian | 03.27.2025

“Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore  is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Twelve days before Donald Trump took...

U.S. Federal
He Jiankui

Chinese Scientist Ostracized Over Gene-Edited Babies Seeks Comeback

By Liyan Qi and Jonathan Cheng, The Wall Street Journal | 03.26.2025

photo via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 3.0

Chinese scientist He Jiankui set off global outrage and landed in prison after...

Other Countries
many overlapping strands of DNA

23andMe’s DNA database is up for sale. Who might want it, and what for?

By Anumita Kaur [cites CGS’ Katie Hasson], The Washington Post | 03.25.2025

Genetic information company 23andMe has said that it is headed to bankruptcy court, raising questions for what happens to the DNA...

Genomics
bodyoid graphic

Ethically sourced “spare” human bodies could revolutionize medicine

By Carsten T. Charlesworth, Henry T. Greely, and Hiromitsu Nakauchi, MIT Technology Review | 03.25.2025

Why do we hear about medical breakthroughs in mice, but rarely see them translate into cures for human disease? Why...

Society