CGS in the News

Ethics changes notwithstanding, creating genetically modified babies is still illegal in SA

By Tamsin Metelerkamp [cites CGS' Katie Hasson], Daily Maverick | 11.18.2024

The National Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC) has confirmed that heritable human genome editing (HHGE) remains illegal in South Africa, after changes in the latest version of the South African Ethics in Health Research Guidelines sparked concern among researchers that...

Genetic Selection

South Africa amended its research guidelines to allow for heritable human genome editing

By Françoise Baylis and Katie Hasson, The Conversation | 10.24.2024

A little-noticed change to South Africa’s national health research guidelines, published in May of this year, has put the country on an ethical precipice. The newly added language appears to position the country as the first to explicitly permit...

Policies

US startup charging couples to ‘screen embryos for IQ’

By Hannah Devlin, Tom Burgis, David Pegg, and Jason Wilson, The Guardian [cites CGS’ Katie Hasson] | 10.18.2024

A US startup company is offering to help wealthy couples screen their embryos for IQ using controversial technology that raises...

Genetic Selection
An unlabeled pie chart with blue, green, purple, and orange sections.

Is DNA testing telling us more than we want to know? The untold story of Ancestry.com

By Erica Evans, Deseret News [Cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 05.30.2018

Lynn Schwiebert was 67-years-old when she decided to figure out who she really was.

She had spent years tracing her...

Bioethics
Close up of a hand holding a test tube and inserting a pipette into the tube.

Ancestry wants your spit, your DNA and your trust. Should you give them all three?

By Stuart Leavenworth, McClatchy DC Bureau [Cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 05.29.2018

It markets its DNA kits with promises that tug at the heartstrings: Discover ancestors. Strengthen family ties. Understand your life...

Genomics
Oocyte with zona pellucida

This fertility doctor is pushing the boundaries of human reproduction, with little regulation

By Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 05.14.2018

NEW YORK — When future historians look back on the 21st century, one of the most iconic photos may be...

Assisted Reproduction
Icon of double helix in white against a circular background of blue

New genetic sleuthing tools helped track down the Golden State Killer suspect

By Tina Hesman Saey, Science News [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 04.29.2018

Using DNA to find a killer sounds easy: Upload some DNA to a database, get a match and — bingo...

Genomics
Burnt orange background with a shadow of two children holding hands. There is a boy on the left and a girl with pigtails on the right.

Parenting of the future: Many embryos, each with DNA profile

By Malcolm Ritter, AP [Cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 04.18.2018

So you want to have a baby.

Would you like a dark-haired girl with a high risk of someday getting...

Eugenics
Black, purple, and blue galaxy in the back with a mirrored image of a young girl looking at each other.

We’re Getting Closer to Cloning Humans. Here’s What’s Stopping Us.

By Claudia Geib, Futurism [cites CGS] | 04.16.2018

If sci-fi writers of the past somehow visited us today, they might wonder: where are all the clones?

As recently...

Society
A small, pink ceramic piggy bank is nestled in the middle of a woven basket full of golden eggs.

The Business of Making a Baby

By Lindsey J. Smith, San Francisco Magazine [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 03.23.2018

After spending her 20s as an aid worker in Africa and India, Helena moved to the Bay Area in 2012...

Assisted Reproduction
University Hospitals building in Cleveland, Ohio

Fertility clinic failures raise question of regulation in industry

By Ginger Christ, The Plain Dealer [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 03.21.2018

CLEVELAND, Ohio - After two recent failures of cryotanks storing eggs and embryos, a number of agencies and organizations are...

Assisted Reproduction