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
White pencil writing a double strand of DNA on a blue background

Scientists Call for a Moratorium on Editing Inherited Genes

By Karen Weintraub, Scientific American [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 03.13.2019

A group of 18 prominent scientists—including some who helped develop CRISPR–Cas9, the current leading tool for gene editing—issued a call...

Human Genetic Modification
Depiction of CRISPR--purple strand of DNA being cut from them middle of two orange strands

Call For Global Moratorium On Creating Gene-Edited Babies

By Rob Stein , National Public Radio [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 03.13.2019

A group of prominent scientists and bioethicists is calling for a global moratorium on any new attempts to bring gene-edited...

Human Genetic Modification
Microscopic picture of egg cells and embryos

New U.S. Experiments Aim To Create Gene-Edited Human Embryos

By Rob Stein, National Public Radio [cites Marcy Darnovsky] | 02.01.2019

A scientist in New York is conducting experiments designed to modify DNA in human embryos as a step toward someday...

Human Genetic Modification
United Nations logo in black.

WHO to Create Global Advisory Panel on Human Gene Editing

By Marcia Frellick, Medscape [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 12.18.2018

The World Health Organization (WHO) is creating a global panel to study human gene editing and the scientific, legal, social...

Genetic Selection
researches removes DNA from a test tube.

Editorial: California shouldn’t keep DNA from hundreds of thousands of innocent people

By Chronicle Editorial Board, San Francisco Chronicle [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 12.14.2018

California is being sued over its DNA collection practices, and the only thing that’s surprising is how long it took...

U.S. States
Pregnant woman holding her belly.

Scientists Say Gene-Edited Babies Claim Is 'Wake-Up Call' For World

By Rob Stein, NPR [Cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 12.13.2018

Three of the most influential scientific organizations in the world are calling for an urgent international effort to prevent scientists...

Genomics
A row of test tubes in a plastic holder

Watchdogs sue California over keeping DNA from arrests with no conviction

By Robert Salonga, The Mercury News [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 12.10.2018

SAN FRANCISCO — Accusing the government of violating constitutional privacy rights, a trio of civil liberties groups is suing the...

U.S. States
A close-up on a hand with a pen writing on pieces of paper on a desk.

Be Wary of the Techno-Fix

By Marcy Darnovsky, Boston Review | 11.19.2018

In her essay, Merve Emre declares that “all reproduction . . . is assisted.” Few feminists of any wave or...

Assisted Reproduction