CGS in the News

The legacy of eugenics

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

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

Disgraced CRISPR-baby scientist’s ‘publicity stunt’ frustrates researchers

By Smriti Mallapaty, Nature [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 02.12.2023

He Jiankui, the Chinese biophysicist who shocked the world by creating the first children with edited genomes, says research must...

Society

Silhouettes of 4 people layered on the left, chunk of genetic code in between 2 DNA helices overlapping a graphic of Earth

It’s Too Late to Protect Your Genetic Privacy. The Math Explaining Why.

By Josh Zumbrun, The Wall Street Journal [Cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.20.2022

^{Photo by National Human Research Institute on Flickr}

Earlier this year, the police in Eugene, Ore., said they had identified...

Assisted Reproduction

a woman holds up a sign protesting sterilization of women

California’s little-known history of eugenics

By Crystal Qian and Elizabeth Cheng, The Epic [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 05.03.2022

^{"Women welfare rights activists holding signs protesting

proposed forced sterilization bill outside Tennessee courthouse, 1971,”

Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF)...}

Human Genetic Modification

4 pregnant women dressed in robes, standing in line; grayscale

Safety Concerns For Ukrainian Surrogate Mothers And Babies

By Bianca Facchinei, Newsy [cites CGS' Emily Galpern] | 03.25.2022

^{Photo by Astaken on Flickr}

The war in Ukraine has disrupted trade and threatened the global economy, from oil to...

Other Countries

tweezers are used to take a DNA strand apart

Should we use genome editing to make better babies? Here’s what the experts think

By Tim Brinkhof, Big Think [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 03.23.2022

George Church is one of the world’s most famous pioneers of genetics and biotechnology. He has made colossal contributions to...

Society

Campus professor Osagie K. Obasogie elected as member to the National Academy of Medicine

By Lydia Sidhom, The Daily Californian [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 10.20.2021

UC Berkeley professor of law and bioethics Osagie K. Obasogie was elected for membership to the National Academy of Medicine...

Civil Society

Polygenic screening of embryos is here, but is it ethical?

By Philip Ball, The Guardian [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 10.17.2021

The birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978 provoked a media frenzy. In comparison, a little girl...

Genomics

a magnifying glass shows a strand of DNA in front of a background of multicolored squares

“Gattaca” and the Ethics of Genetic Selection

By David K. Johnson, The Great Courses Daily [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 09.19.2021

The film Gattaca is set in a world in which gene manipulation is common. When parents decide to have children...

Genetic Selection