CGS in the News

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 questions about the ethics of genetic enhancement.

The company, Heliospect Genomics, has worked with more than a dozen couples undergoing...

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

What Do You Risk With At-Home DNA Test Kits?

By Ashleigh Wyss [cites CGS' Katie Hasson], Listnr | 10.09.2024

Discovering your genetic history can be as simple as spitting into a test tube, but what happens when your data...

Society
Microscopic image of oocyte.

A Gene Editing Breakthrough

By Tom Ashbrook, NPR On Point [features Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.08.2017

After the blockbuster announcement a U.S. team successfully edited human embryos come the tough medical and ethical questions. We’ll talk...

Technologies
FDA building and sign

The 'three-parent baby' fertility doctor needs to stop marketing the procedure, FDA says

By Rachel Becker, The Verge [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.05.2017

On Friday, FDA sent him a letter notifying him of his violations

The doctor who created a genetically modified “three-parent...

Human Genetic Modification
An incomplete puzzle featuring an image of a double helix, with several pieces scattered around the puzzle.

Gene Editing for ‘Designer Babies’? Highly Unlikely, Scientists Say

By Pam Belluck, New York Times [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.04.2017

Now that science is a big step closer to being able to fiddle with the genes of a human embryo...

Assisted Reproduction
Double helix figure that is diagonally positioned. Several base pairs are highlighted with different colors.

First human embryo editing experiment in U.S. ‘corrects’ gene for heart condition

By Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.02.2017

Scientists have successfully edited the DNA of human embryos to erase a heritable heart condition that is known for causing sudden death...

Assisted Reproduction
Microscopic image an oocyte

Scientists Precisely Edit DNA In Human Embryos To Fix A Disease Gene

By Rob Stein, NPR [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 08.02.2017

Scientists have been tinkering with the DNA in humans and other living things for decades. But one thing has long...

Human Genetic Modification
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