CGS Features

Public Interest Group Applauds End of UC Berkeley�s Controversial Genetic Testing of Incoming Students

Thu, 12 Aug 2010

The University says its researchers will now use students� genetic samples provided for aggregate analysis only, and will not provide results to individual students.

"Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated"

Fri, 18 Jun 2010

Instead of closing the door on the historically misleading notion of race-as-biology, the ten-year-old Human Genome Project has drawn new attention toward biology's role in racial categories.

Public interest group welcomes regulation of direct-to-consumer genetic tests

Fri, 11 Jun 2010

�Along with other observers, we�ve long said that some of these tests are tantamount to practicing medicine."

UC Berkeley, Don't Send Those Swabs

Mon, 07 Jun 2010

UC Berkeley plans to send cotton swabs to thousands of freshmen and transfer students, for samples for DNA analysis. This plan is problematic for several reasons.

Public interest group calls for UC Berkeley to suspend controversial gene tests for incoming students

Wed, 19 May 2010

CGS is calling for the suspension of a project at the University of California, Berkeley in which incoming freshmen will be asked to provide samples of their own DNA for genetic analysis.

How Far Would You Go? Public Interest Collaborative Announces First-Ever Web Series for Parents on Technologies that Could Alter Human Nature

Wed, 05 May 2010

A new website and series of short videos on the complex challenges of new reproductive and genetic technologies.

Against the Grain: Progressive Bioethics

Mon, 19 Apr 2010

The emergence or specter of biotechnologies like assisted reproduction and human cloning has raised thorny ethical issues. According to Marcy Darnovsky, progressives and radicals have not always approached these issues carefully and thoughtfully. Darnovsky talks about designer babies, surrogacy, stem cell research, and much more.

The dangers of growing DNA databases

Fri, 09 Apr 2010

The practice of retaining genetic samples from people arrested for a crime but not convicted is growing in the U.S. It has serious human rights implications.

When Scientists Pick a Fight with the Law

Wed, 07 Apr 2010

Researchers are calling for the FBI to allow independent scientists to look under the hood of their sizable DNA forensics database.

Public Interest Group Praises Court Decision that Human Genes Cannot Be Patented

Tue, 30 Mar 2010

CGS welcomed yesterday's District Court decision invalidating patents on genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer, which ruled that human genes cannot be patented because they are products of nature

Emerging Technologies and a Sustainable, Healthy, Just World

Environmentalists are in a position to play a critically important role in determining how powerful, emerging technologies are ultimately developed, used, and regulated.

"Moral Questions of an Altogether Different Kind" [PDF]

Tue, 23 Feb 2010

Human genetic, reproductive and biomedical technologies are taking us into uncharted moral and political waters.

Symposium: Reproductive Technologies in the 21st Century

Mon, 15 Feb 2010

A day-long symposium, "Choice in the 21st Century? Regulating Reproductive Technologies," will be held in San Francisco on February 26.

Looking Back a Decade

Wed, 27 Jan 2010

The Center for Genetics and Society has been active for about a decade, and at the start of a new one it seems appropriate to take a look back.

Progress in Bioethics: Science, Policy, and Politics

Thu, 07 Jan 2010

A special presentation at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC to mark the publication of the anthology "Progress in Bioethics: Science, Policy, and Politics."

Beauty, Brains, and Eggs [Video]

Fri, 18 Dec 2009

Los Angeles's public television station examines the big and mostly unregulated business of egg donation.

Biopolitics for the 21st Century

Mon, 14 Dec 2009

Something is amiss in the interface between emerging technologies and society. Are we less giddy about the techno-future now than we were back in the 20th century? Does technology innovation now serve human needs rather than the imperatives of commerce?

Genes and Jobs: U of Akron Tests the Testing Laws

Wed, 04 Nov 2009

The University of Akron (UA) has a policy that could require any candidate for employment to submit a DNA sample, despite the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act.

Ten Years Later: Jesse Gelsinger�s Death and Human Subjects Protection

Thu, 22 Oct 2009

Last month marked the tenth anniversary of Jesse Gelsinger's death--a powerful symbol of why researchers must do right by the subjects they depend upon and, moreover, why greater federal oversight of human research subjects is needed.

Symbol over Substance

Cloning-based stem cell research has been more symbol than substance; more moving target than realistic goal. But it has been a monkey wrench in the gears for progressive advocates of responsible biotechnologies.