February 25, 2019
(STAT News) – Three government institutions in China, including the nation’s science ministry, may have funded the “CRISPR babies” study that led to the birth last November of two genetically modified twin girls, according to documents reviewed by STAT. These … Read More
February 25, 2019
(Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News) – Twelve weeks after publishing a perspective on the ethics of gene editing by He Jiankui, PhD, the scientist reportedly responsible for the first gene-edited humans, the editors of The CRISPR Journal have decided to retract … Read More
February 21, 2019
(MIT Technology Review) – Now, new research shows that the same alteration introduced into the girls’ DNA, to a gene called CCR5, not only makes mice smarter but also improves human brain recovery after stroke, and could be linked to … Read More
February 12, 2019
(STAT News) – A different approach aimed at enhancing IQ is far less fantastic. We’re calling it embryo profiling, and it could be done today. Embryo profiling capitalizes on the ability to add up the minuscule effects associated with thousands … Read More
February 4, 2019
(NPR) – A scientist in New York is conducting experiments designed to modify DNA in human embryos as a step toward someday preventing inherited diseases, NPR has learned. For now, the work is confined to a laboratory. But the research, … Read More
January 21, 2019
(Smithsonian) – These human contests started out by focusing on babies and young children, but soon entire families would also be judged at fairs for their lineage and cumulative flawlessness. The contests initially sought to amuse and promote wellness, but … Read More
January 18, 2019
Journal of Law and the Biosciences (vol. 5, no. 2, 2018) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “A Clash at the Petri Dish: Transferring Embryos with Known Genetic Anomalies” by Judith Daar “The Tyranny of Choice: Reproductive Selection in … Read More
January 10, 2019
(STAT News) – The Chinese scientist who shocked the world in November by announcing that twin girls had been born from embryos that he had created using genome editing has told two Western colleagues that, contrary to a flurry of … Read More
January 7, 2019
(CNN) – Everyone he talked to — which was not many people — had said “don’t go there,” “don’t do it,” explained Robin Lovell-Badge of the UK research facility the Francis Crick Institute, who organized the scientific summit in Hong … Read More
January 7, 2019
(Reuters) – A leading geneticist who ran the conference where a Chinese scientist said he had made the world’s first “gene-edited” babies condemned him on Monday for potentially jeopardizing lives and having no biology training. Robin Lovell-Badge, organizer of the … Read More
January 4, 2019
(U.S. News & World Report) – Over the past decade, there’s been a profound increase in the number of genetic tests available to consumers. Direct marketing and testimonials by public figures and celebrities have increased awareness as well as our … Read More
January 3, 2019
(The New York Times) – Over the past decade, more and more women have begun using long-acting, reversible birth control methods like intrauterine devices and implants. These birth control methods are highly effective at preventing pregnancy but were previously not … Read More
January 2, 2019
(Nature) – In calling for standards for producing such ‘CRISPR-edited’ babies, these leaders have shunted aside a crucial and as-yet-unanswered question: whether it is (or can ever be) acceptable to genetically engineer children by introducing changes that they will pass … Read More
January 2, 2019
(Quartz) – With the developments in gene editing, and recent Chinese experiments on babies, the question of whether it’s ethical to genetically modify humans has left the realm of sci-fi and philosophical speculation to enter the very near future. Is it … Read More
December 18, 2018
(The Japan Times) – Two men sued the state Monday for damages over their forced sterilization under a now-defunct eugenics protection law that mandated the prevention of people with intellectual disabilities from reproducing. The two men, now in their 70s … Read More
December 17, 2018
(Wired) – In reality, we make genetic decisions all the time, in ways that are already subtly altering the people who make up society. It might seem strange to group He’s experiment alongside the more common genetic procedures parents use … Read More
December 17, 2018
(STAT News) – In the three weeks since the remarkable announcement about Nana and Lulu, STAT has pieced together the story of the years leading up to that fateful Monday. With details reported for the first time, it describes the … Read More
December 14, 2018
(STAT News) – That ignorance among sufferers, in parts of the country where people were most likely to have it, reflected China’s unique and complex history with AIDS, one that involved a litany of scandals and government cover-ups that have … Read More
December 14, 2018
(The Atlantic) – Such a strong reaction is understandable, given the many puzzling and worrying details about the experiment. Even without any speculation about designer babies and Gattaca-like futures that may or may not come to pass, the details about … Read More
December 14, 2018
(NPR) – As researchers have scrutinized the scant details made public by the scientist, He Jiankui of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, it has become clear that He actually missed precisely editing his genetic target. … Read More
December 7, 2018
(The Conversation) – Indigenous women are murdered, go missing or face abuse at much higher rates than non-Indigenous women in Canada. Recent news stories now report that birthing mothers have also been sterilized (given tubal ligations) without their full and … Read More
December 6, 2018
(STAT News) – The birth announcement made Musunuru dig out his old emails — which he shared with STAT — and do some sleuthing. The University of Pennsylvania researcher quickly found that the student, Feifei Cheng, worked with He and … Read More
December 3, 2018
(New York Times) – Many scientists in China say the drive to succeed is so strong that they adopt a “do first, debate later” approach. Wang Yue, a professor at the institute of medical humanities of Peking University, said many … Read More
December 3, 2018
(MIT Technology Review) – In the wild uproar around an experiment in China that claimed to have created twin girls whose genes were altered to protect them from HIV, there’s something worth knowing—research to improve the next generation of humans … Read More
December 3, 2018
(TIME) – “The implications go beyond just these twins,” says Dr. Kiran Musunuru, professor of cardiovascular medicine and genetics at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. “If we talk about the sanctity of human life, and the inherent dignity … Read More
