News

During his 2015 State of the Union address, then-President Barack Obama announced what he promised would be an ambitious public health project. “Tonight, I’m launching a new Precision Medicine Initiative to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes...

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...

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

"These are saliva...

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

By Red Ordbit and Wire Reports, Red Ordbit and Wire Reports | 09.17.2008

The Australian government's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) said Wednesday it has granted its first license allowing scientists...

By Richard Hayes, The New York Times | 09.16.2008

David Frum correctly acknowledges that income inequality in the United States has been growing steadily and that the use of...

By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Boston Globe | 09.15.2008
In a third-floor loft where programmers build Internet start-ups, Mackenzie Cowell is talking about the tools he and like-minded young...
By Allen Salkin, New York Times | 09.12.2008
It was a funny thing to be doing in a cocktail dress.

Debra Netschert, a financial analyst, was sitting next...
By Erika Kinetz, Associated Press | 09.11.2008
The advertisement seems innocuous enough: A pregnant woman's belly with a male symbol scrawled in ink to the right of...
Press Statement

The Center for Genetics and Society has launched BioPolicyWiki, the first wiki-style compendium of biotechnology policies. Using the same software as the popular Wikipedia, any online user will be able to contribute information.

“Using a wiki platform will keep BioPolicyWiki up to date, and allow users to contribute new information and correct errors,” said Jesse Reynolds, policy analyst at the Center and manager of the new site.

BioPolicyWiki includes country-level policies and binding international agreements governing reproductive and genetic technologies and practices. The policies in each country are placed into categories and elaborated upon in a narrative.

The practices currently include:

  • Eggs for assisted reproduction
  • Eggs for research
  • Inheritable genetic modification
  • Preimplantation genetic diagnosis
  • Reproductive cloning
  • Research cloning
  • Sex selection
  • Surrogacy

 “BioPolicyWiki should be a valuable resource for journalists, policy makers, scholars, scientists, and students,” added Reynolds. “With users’ contributions, the initial collection of legal and policy information will grow in quantity and quality.”


Contact:
Jesse Reynolds
jreynolds[AT]geneticsandsociety[DOT]org
1-510-625-0819 x308


 

By Christine McConville, Boston Herald | 09.10.2008
A controversial Massachusetts life sciences company may be on its last breath.

Advanced Cell Technology of Worcester announced yesterday that...
By Emily Singer, Technology Review | 09.09.2008
Last month, Jorge Conde handed out the first of his company's precious products: an engraved silver box housing a USB...