Biopolitical Times

The Center for Genetics and Society blog highlights the latest developments in the social, political, and ethical implications of human biotechnologies, with contributions from staff, fellows, consultants, and guest authors.

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If you’ve been online or caught the news in the past few weeks, you’ve probably come across Sydney Sweeney, her “great genes jeans,” and much debate over whether they reflect a resurgence of eugenics in American politics and culture.

In case you missed it, here’s what happened. At the end of July, US-based clothing company American Eagle released a new ad campaign. In one ad, Sweeney breathily recites the following, while lying back to zip up her jeans:

Genes are...

Biopolitical Times

On July 21, the American Academy for Pediatrics (AAP) released new landmark recommendations for the care of children with trisomy 13 and trisomy 18, in which babies are born with a third copy of chromosome 13 or 18. Historically, trisomy 13 and 18 have been framed as lethal, or diagnoses “incompatible with life.” In recent years, multiple studies have shown that long-term survival of children with trisomy 13 and 18 is more common than previously believed. This has led to...

"Golden mitochondria" by National Institutes of Health
(NIH) is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Last week, researchers at the UK’s Newcastle Fertility Centre published the findings of their years-long experiment with “mitochondrial donation” techniques, also known as three-person...

Since the “CRISPR babies” scandal in 2018, no additional genetically modified babies are known to have been born. Now several techno-enthusiastic billionaires are setting up privately funded companies to genetically edit human embryos, with the explicit intention of creating genetically...