News

IN THE Operation Varsity Blues scandal of 2019, 50 wealthy parents were charged with trying to get their children into elite universities through fraudulent means. The story dramatically demonstrated the lengths to which some parents will go to ensure their...

The gene-editing tool CRISPR enabled a groundbreaking new treatment for sickle-cell disease, and in the future, scientists anticipate that it could be used to tackle cancer, forms of inherited blindness, various superbug infections and even HIV...

There was immediate backlash when Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos created through in vitro fertilization qualified as...

When venture capitalist Jack Abraham first began dating his wife, Gabriella Massamillo, he insisted on one condition: that when they...

a blue background with two people in lab coats one of whom is taking a piece of a DNA strand out of the strand
By Rob Stein, NPR | 03.08.2023

It's still far too premature to try to use powerful new technologies to edit genes that can be passed down...

a security camera on white background
By Drew Harwell, The Washington Post | 03.07.2023

The FBI and the Defense Department were actively involved in research and development of facial recognition software that they hoped...

two cartoon scientists in lab coats pulling out a rung on the ladder of a DNA double helix. This is on a blue background
By Ian Sample and Hannah Devlin, The Guardian | 03.06.2023

The next generation of advanced genetic therapies raises profound medical and ethical issues that must be thrashed out to ensure...

a cartoon white baby surrounded by dna double helixes on a blue background. The DNA forms a play pen for the baby
By Philip Ball, Prospect | 03.06.2023

Imagine you’re planning to have a baby and are told there’s a method that can select the embryo to increase...

a doctor in a white coat writing something down on a chart. You can see the legs of a baby on the table and the hand of presumably a parent holding the baby upright.
By GMWatch Staff, GMWatch | 03.06.2023

The anti-eugenics activist group, Stop Designer Babies (SDB),(1) is protesting today outside the ‘International Summit’ on human genetic modification (HGM).(2) SDB...

a woman in a lab coat looks at DNA under a microscope
By Rob Stein, NPR [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky] | 03.06.2023

Hundreds of scientists, doctors, bioethicists, patients, and others started gathering in London Monday for the Third International Summit on Human...

he jiankui in a light blue button up standing in front of a lab. The background is blurred
By Eben Kirksey, The New York Times | 03.04.2023

Since James Watson and Francis Crick first described the structure of the DNA double helix, scientists have debated the potential...

a group of cells with the mitochondria dyed gold on a black background.
By Jessica Hamzelou, MIT Technology Review | 03.03.2023

This week, I’ve been working on a big story about a controversial treatment that creates babies with three genetic parents...