CGS in the News

The legacy of eugenics

By Sheila Kaplan, UC Berkeley School of Public Health | 06.20.2024

Image by Gennie Stafford from Flickr

These days, it’s a rare scientist who would admit to working in eugenics.

The word conjures historical horrors: mass sterilization of people judged unfit to reproduce, state anti-miscegenation laws, and Germany’s justification for the...

Human Genetic Modification

Biopolitical Times on CIRM's 'Depressingly Small Number of Effective Treatments or Cures'

By David Jensen [cites CGS' Pete Shanks], The California Stem Cell Report | 06.24.2024

Image by NIH Image Gallery from Flickr

The Biopolitical Times reported this month that the California stem cell and gene therapy program “seems to be in serious trouble.”

 “On first glance, it may look impressive, with over a thousand patients...

Stem Cells
A human oocyte is held by a glass holding pipette (left). A beveled glass pipette containing an immobilized ejaculated spermatozoon is inserted through the zona pellucida and deep into the oolemma, creating a deep furrow. Once the membrane of the oocyte is penetrated, the sperm is deposited therein.

Scientists Are Shocked About How Easy It Is To Tweak Genes In Human Embryos

By Dan Vergano and Tom Chivers, BuzzFeed [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.02.2017

Researchers have erased a genetic glitch that causes heart defects in dozens of human embryos with surprising success, fixing the...

Assisted Reproduction
A baby dressed in a shirt, diapers, and cap, floats mid-air.

A Future of Genetically Engineered Children Is Closer Than You’d Think

By Rowan Jacobsen, Mother Jones [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.01.2017

Last week, US scientists edited a human embryo for the first time. That’s just the beginning.

The first step is...

Human Genetic Modification
Three boxes of 23andMe kits stand upright in a line. Two of the boxes have been blurred, and one of them is centrally focused.

FDA gives DTC genetic tests a partial restart

By Pete Shanks, Medical Laboratory Observer | 07.25.2017

The direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing industry has been around for just over a decade. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration...

Genomics
Abstract design of several double helices crossing over each other against a black background.

Is Gene Editing Out of Control?

By The Inquiry, BBC [features Marcy Darnovsky] | 07.16.2017

"This structure has novel features, which are of considerable biological interest." It was perhaps the greatest understatement of all time...

Human Genetic Modification
A wall displays letters " ATCG" in various colors.

CRISPR DNA Editing Can Cause Hundreds of Off-Target Mutations

By Dave Roos, Seeker [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 06.06.2017

A new study offers a cautionary tale for using the widely hyped gene-editing tool CRISPR on people.

The gene-editing technology...

Bioethics
Embryo, with 5 visible cells.

Scientific Panel Says Editing Heritable Human Genes Could Be OK In The Future

By Rob Stein, NPR [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 02.14.2017

Scientists could be allowed to make modifications in human DNA that can be passed down through subsequent generations, the National...

Bioethics
Against a shirt with black and gold stripes, a sticker reads "Do you care?" in a thought/speech bubble.

Written evidence for the Genomics and Genome-Editing Inquiry of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee

By Edward Hockings and Lewis Coyne, Ethics and Genetics [cites CGS] | 01.20.2017

KEY POINTS

  • UK biosciences policy has become increasingly motivated by economic considerations in recent years, at the expense, we believe...
Human Genetic Modification
A traffic light appears yellow to signify caution (rather than a green go, and a red stop)

The Promise and Peril of Emerging Reproductive Technologies

By Ekaterina Pesheva, Harvard Medical School [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 01.11.2017

In vitro fertilization has transformed reproductive medicine and sparked a number of therapeutic and diagnostic breakthroughs.

Now a new, still...

Animal Biotechnologies