CGS in the News

23andMe’s DNA database is up for sale. Who might want it, and what for?

By Anumita Kaur [cites CGS’ Katie Hasson], The Washington Post | 03.25.2025

Genetic information company 23andMe has said that it is headed to bankruptcy court, raising questions for what happens to the DNA shared by millions of people with the company via saliva test kits.

Sunday’s announcement clears the way for a new...

Genomics

The couple who want to make America procreate again

By Anne Branigin, The Washington Post [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 02.04.2025

Photo by TeggorMindFish via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

It's a...

Genetic Selection

Should We Use Gene Editing to Create Super Babies?

By Staff [cites CGS' Katie Hasson], The New York Times Upfront | 02.17.2025

A young couple wants to have a baby, but they’re worried it’ll carry a disease that runs in the family...

Bioethics
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
Josiah Zayner

No Self-Editing: Biohacker Josiah Zayner Can’t Stop Living Out Loud

By Alex Lash, Xconomy [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 03.13.2018

Gene editing has arrived. Of the various forms of the technology, CRISPR-Cas9 is the easiest to use, and it’s already...

Synthetic Biology
Three palm trees by the ocean in Southern California

Will California's $3 billion in stem cell spending pay off? First royalty check arrives

By David Jensen, The Sacramento Bee [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 03.01.2018

Back in 2004, when California's stem cell agency was little more than an idea in the minds of researchers, its...

Stem Cells