Race Under the Microscope
A new video by the Center for Genetics and Society explores how genetic research and its commercial by-products are reviving harmful and false assumptions about race. read more
View ArticleMadonna's DNA — Want Some?
A breathless article in London's Daily Mirror launched a publicity coup that spread around the world:"Madonna appoints a DNA team to sterilise her dressing room after she's used it."read more
View ArticleSurvival of the Fastest?
Michael Johnson, the legendary athlete, recently suggested that black American and Caribbean sprinters have a "superior athletic gene." He's a legend, but he's wrong.read more
View ArticleEthics Schmethics Says Ethicist
The approach of the Olympics sparks the usual flood of pro-doping and pro-enhancement articles, notably an interview with Oxford ethics professor Julian Savulescu.read more
View ArticleStop and Swab
DNA databases continue to grow exponentially as more U.S. states allow police to seize DNA samples from people who have been arrested but not convicted, and from those suspected of misdemeanors as well...
View ArticleThe Dangers of Fetal Engineering
A recent study considers the troubling off-label use of a risky drug in pregnant women whose baby girls may not be born with normal-looking genitals.read more
View ArticlePolitics in Our Genes?
A new study advocates looking to genetics to understand political preferences, but a closer look at the scholars' methodology highlights important downfalls to this approach.read more
View ArticleWill Joseph Merrick, aka the Elephant Man, Ever Rest in Peace?
Scientists plan to extract DNA from the skeleton of Joseph Merrick, known as the "elephant man," in hopes that they can finally explain the cause of his disfigurement. What are the ethical...
View ArticleRace-Based Medicine
A new drug may lead us to at least partially revisit the debate about race-based medicine.read more
View ArticleFeel Good Surrogacy?
The New Normal showcases a light-hearted vision of surrogacy and gay parenthood that has moving moments, but largely misses the mark.read more
View ArticleFrozen Egg Banks
If egg freezing takes off, finding a future child’s genetic mother may feel a lot more like “catalog shopping.” read more
View ArticleEmbryos for Sale?
A California fertility clinic is using “desirable” sperm and eggs to create batches of embryos that it then splits among multiple infertile couples. read more
View ArticleNative American DNA Testing
The question of who belongs to what Native American tribe is rife with political, social, and legal implications. Do DNA ancestry tests provide answers or add another layer of misunderstanding? read more
View ArticleSweden Repeals Forced Sterilization for Transgender People
The Swedish law that required transgender people to undergo sterilization before they could be legally recognized as another gender has been recognized as a violation of human rights.read more
View ArticleGene-ism and Mass Murder
Aside from distracting our attention from proposals for gun control, can sequencing Adam Lanza's genes do any harm? Why not give them a look?read more
View ArticleStudents Spread Awareness of California’s Eugenic History
A group of California high school students have started a petition asking that textbook standards and curricula be changed to include the state’s history of sterilization and eugenics. read more
View ArticleTell the FDA: No to GM Salmon
The FDA is close to approving the sale of genetically modified salmon, which would be the first GM animal allowed into the U.S. food supply, but it's not a done deal yet, and the public still has time...
View ArticleA Right to Your DNA
In a case that will have a profound consequence on Americans' lives and privacy rights, the United States Supreme Court will hear a case later this month to determine the legality of collecting DNA...
View ArticleHow Soon Is Now? Prenatal Tests Become Big Business
Only a couple of years ago, people were amazed at the idea of genetically testing a fetus using no more than a pin-prick of the mother's blood. Now, it's a rapidly expanding reality.read more
View ArticleEnd Human Rights Abuses of Intersex and Transgender People
A new report from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture focuses on human rights abuses in health-care settings, and bolsters LGBTQI activists in the fight against involuntary sterilizations...
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