The Center for Genetics and Society brings social justice and human rights to the center of public and policy discussions about human genetics and assisted reproduction.

Featured

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

Aggregated News

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

Fourth International Summit on Genome Editing Emphasizes Ethical and Societal Concerns

By CGS | 05.29.2025
Biopolitical Times

Last week, May 21–23, a broad range of experts gathered in Boston to discuss the future of powerful biotechnologies with the potential to change what it means to be human. The fourth in a series of international Summits on human genome editing, this event was organized by the Global Observatory for Genome Editing, which “seeks to expand the range of questions arising at the frontiers of emerging biotechnologies … and fosters international, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral dialogue.” Like previous Summits...

Policies

Trumpian “Common Sense” and the History of IQ Tests

By Pepper Stetler, Los Angeles Review of Books | 05.08.2025

Aggregated News

"Donald Trump Signs The Pledge" by Michael Vadon 
is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

This is...

Society

The Emperors’ New Clothes

By Pete Shanks | 05.29.2025
Biopolitical Times

A review of More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity...

A "Post-Human" Future?

Biopolitical Times

The tech billionaires and rogue scientists moving to commercialize CRISPR babies

By Marcy Darnovsky | 06.26.2025

Since the “CRISPR babies” scandal in 2018, no additional genetically modified babies are known to have been born. Now several...

Genetic Selection

The Post-Human Games

By Pete Shanks | 06.26.2025

"BXP135660" by tableatny is
licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Last week, Wired published a substantial, deeply reported...

Society

Remembering George Annas (1945-2025)

By Marcy Darnovsky | 06.17.2025

The Center for Genetics and Society mourns the loss of long-time colleague George Annas, who died on May 30. A...

Society

News

Work begins to create artificial human DNA from scratch

By Pallab Gosh and Gwyndaf Hughes, BBC News | 06.26.2025

Work has begun on a controversial project to create the building blocks of human life from scratch, in what is believed to be a world first.

The research has been taboo until now because of concerns it could lead to...

Genomics

'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

Scientists create fertile mice with two fathers for first time

By Rhys Blakely, The Times | 06.24.2025

Scientists have created fertile mice from male genetic material alone, a breakthrough that could one day open the door to human babies who inherit their genes from two fathers.

The experiment, led by Professor Yanchang Wei at Shanghai Jiao Tong...

Human Genetic Modification

Bitter harvest — 30 years of broken GMO promises

By Save Our Seeds and GMWatch, Save Our Seeds | 06.23.2025

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Whatever happened to GM Golden Rice? And wasn’t GM salmon supposed to revolutionise aquaculture? Three decades after the first GMO crops were planted, Save Our Seeds, in collaboration with GMWatch, with contributions from Beyond...

Patents & Other IP

Video
Reproduction and Family Formation: The State and the Market
Use Gene Editing to Make Better Babies | Debate | Intelligence Squared U.S.
The 'Perfect' Baby?: The Dangers of Gene Editing in Assisted Reproduction