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

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

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

Aggregated News

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

Faster, Higher, Stronger? The Enhanced Games Fall Flat

By Pete Shanks | 06.04.2026
Biopolitical Times

Faster, Higher, Stronger was the Olympic motto from 1874 until 2001, when “ – Together” was added, to stress the “moral and educational perspective” of the Games. The folks who paid for or participated in the Enhanced Games – the name itself a nod to the Olympics – held in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 24, apparently use a different edit: 

Faster, Higher, Stronger with Chemistry

High-level sport draws huge crowds. Coming very soon, the soccer World Cup, featuring...

Human Genetic Modification

The start-ups dreaming of creating genetically modified babies

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

Aggregated News

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

U.S. Federal

The Measured Listener

By Daniel Shanahan, Los Angeles Review of Books | 05.31.2026

Aggregated News

This is the 15th installment in the Legacies of Eugenics series, which features essays by leading thinkers devoted to exploring...

U.S. States

Biopolitical Times

Faster, Higher, Stronger? The Enhanced Games Fall Flat

By Pete Shanks | 06.04.2026

Faster, Higher, Stronger was the Olympic motto from 1874 until 2001, when “ – Together” was added, to stress...

Human Genetic Modification

‘I didn’t come here to get rich’: new research on the lives of Ukrainian women in Georgia’s surrogacy boom

By Olga Oleinikova, Medea Badashvili, and Polina Vlasenko | 04.23.2026

“I didn’t come here to get rich. I came because I had no other way to keep my son safe...

Other Countries

Serial Entrepreneur and “Frankenstein’s” Ex Launches (Another) New Germline Editing Startup

By Pete Shanks | 03.26.2026

Cathy Tie seems to be good at starting businesses but not so dedicated to maintaining them. CGS, like many others...

Policies

News

FDA opens path to approval for Hunter syndrome gene therapy

By Rebecca Simkin, BioNews | 06.29.2026

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is allowing biotech company Regenxbio to reapply for licensing of a gene therapy for Hunter syndrome, in a reversal of its previous decision. Hunter syndrome, or mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), is a...

Human Genetic Modification

Unregulated gene therapy for longevity to launch

By Marisa Flook , BioNews | 06.29.2026

An anti-ageing gene therapy not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to be offered by an American company at overseas clinics outside of US jurisdiction.

The treatment, developed by Minicircle from Austin, Texas, uses a...

Genetic Selection

Autistic people aren’t afraid of genetic research – they are afraid of what scientists might do with it

By Samuelle Fajutrao Falk , The Conversation | 06.26.2026

When my colleagues and I asked autistic people and parents of autistic children in Sweden how they feel about genetic research in autism, one response stood out: “I hope genetic research finds new ways to help us, not erase us.”...

Human Genetic Modification

New human embryo editing advances require tough conversations on ethical boundaries

By Paul Knoepfler, Stat | 06.24.2026

What if you could precisely change the genome of a pre-implantation human embryo and then safely use that embryo to try to generate a healthier person? It’s a wild idea, but one that technology over the past decade has steadily...

Genetic Selection

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