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

Election Guide: Here's What You Need to Know About Proposition 14

By Terry McSweeney, NBC Bay Area [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 10.04.2020

Proposition 14 on the November ballot asks voters to approve $5.5 billion to continue funding stem cell research in California...

Policies

Your ‘Ethnicity Estimate’ Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does

By Caitlin Harrington, Wired [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 10.02.2020

WHEN THE GENEALOGY company Ancestry released the latest update to its “ethnicity estimates” last month, a lot of people suddenly became...

Society

Clean Slate Endorsements, Fall 2020

By Guardian Editorial, San Francisco Bay Guardian [cites CGS] | 10.01.2020

We were for Bernie. We think he would have won in 2016 and would win this year.

But it’s not...

Society

Should California Put $5.5 Billion Into Stem Cell Research? Voters To Decide With Prop. 14.

By Sammy Caiola, CapRadio [cites Center for Genetics and Society] | 09.18.2020

A measure on the November ballot would allow California to issue $5.5 billion in bonds to fund stem cell research...

Policies

California Stem Cell Measure Scrutinized in Virus Budget Crunch

By Joyce E. Cutler and Tiffany Stecker, Bloomberg Government | 09.17.2020

California voters will be asked this November to spend big on stem cell research, an expensive proposition that could help...

Policies

Strict new guidelines lay out a path to heritable human gene editing

By Tina Hesman Saey, Science News [cites CGS's Katie Hasson] | 09.03.2020

^{In 2018, Jiankui He (pictured) announced that he had edited genes in embryos to create two baby girls.}

Gene editing...

Policies

Genome editing for heritable diseases not yet safe, report states

By Ian Sample, The Guardian [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 09.03.2020

Powerful genome editing procedures that could prevent parents from passing on heritable diseases to their children are far from ready...

Human Genetic Modification

Landmark Privacy Proposal To Give Consumers Control Over Their Genetic Data Advances To Governor Newsom’s Desk For Signature

By George Thomas, The Government Center Gazette [cites CGS] | 09.01.2020

SACRAMENTO, CA — Senator Thomas J. Umberg (D-Santa Ana) announced today that his measure, Senate Bill 980 (SB 980) passed the California...

Policies