April 13, 2023

Whether or How to Use Artificial Gametes

Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 04.13.2023

With increasing media attention on advances in making artificial gametes, it is important to remember that current gene editing technologies are still a long way from perfect, that artificial gametes have thus far been convincingly created only in animals, and that both technologies raise far-reaching social perils.

SYNTHETIC EMBRYOS | GENOME EDITING | GENOMICS | EUGENICS 

ASSISTED REPRODUCTION | SURROGACY360 | VARIOUS

Creating and implanting synthetic monkey embryos could pave the way to stem-cell babies

Françoise Baylis, The Conversation | 04.12.2023

Are synthetic human-like embryo structures sufficiently different from human embryos created by fertilization to be exempt from the current limits on human embryo research?

This biotech could one day make human eggs from scratch. But first, they’re trying to rethink IVF

Megan Molteni, STAT | 04.08.2023

One company’s efforts to make lab-grown eggs has not yet been successful, but in the meantime, they are hoping that the “reproductive support cells” they have made can help immature eggs harvested in the IVF process to continue developing in the lab.

Synthetic embryos have been implanted into monkey wombs

Jessica Hamzelou, MIT Technology Review | 04.06.2023

Researchers created monkey embryos from stem cells instead of a sperm and egg. When they implanted the synthetic embryos into adult monkeys, some showed initial signs of pregnancy.

Gene Editing Therapeutics Could Hit the Market in 2023

Jia Jie Chen, BioSpace | 04.10.2023

Although there are currently no gene-editing-based treatments on the market, several companies have products in mid- and late-stage trials. Some could gain FDA approval this year.

The Motives of Medicine

Lisa Rosenbaum, New England Journal of Medicine | 03.23.2023

In a podcast interview, cardiologist Ethan Weiss discusses how his daughter’s monogenic disorder and her opposition to heritable genome editing challenged his own view of CRISPR.

State Stem Cell Agency Approves $26 Million to Remove Obstacles to Gene and Cell Therapy Treatments

David Jensen, The California Stem Cell Report | 03.30.2023

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine awarded new three-year grants for stem cell and gene therapy research. Since 2004, about 80% percent of grants have gone to institutions linked to CIRM directors, a situation that is legal but the subject of criticism.

Rethinking the Use of Race and Other Labels in Genetics Research

Geoffrey Mock, Duke Today | 03.31.2023

Citing concerns about the use of race as a proxy for human genetic variation, a committee formed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine advised that researchers avoid using race in genetics research.

Why the rise of DNA testing is creating challenges — and an opportunity

Noura Abul-Husn, STAT | 03.29.2023

Healthcare providers are often ill-equipped to incorporate genetic test results into clinical practice. 

A Nonprofit Wants Your DNA Data to Solve Crimes

Emily Mullin, Wired | 03.23.2023

Law enforcement use of DNA to solve crimes currently relies on commercial databases meant for genealogy research. A new nonprofit is building a database explicitly for criminal investigations, but providing one’s genetic information remains risky. 

California Woman Tells Her Story of Being Sterilized Under State Program That Was the Model for Nazi Germany

Deborah Hastings, Inside Edition | 04.06.2023

Before it was repealed in 1979, California’s eugenics law allowed the sterilization of thousands of residents, many of them poor and people of color, who were considered unworthy of having children. As recently as 2014, state prisons sterilized female inmates, many without their consent or knowledge.

In the whitewashed world of Alzheimer’s research, one scientist is on a quest to understand the diversity of brains

Usha Lee McFarling, STAT | 03.30.2023

Lisa Barnes aims to correct disparities in research that have left Black Americans’ experiences of dementia understudied. Her findings underscore that social factors associated with racial categories play a larger role than genetics in differential cognitive outcomes. 

From Eugenics to Targeted Advertising: The Dark Role of Data in Sorting Humanity

Chris Wiggins and Matthew L. Jones, Literary Hub | 03.27.2023

Francis Galton’s efforts to understand human differences were rooted in eugenics. The impact of his approach can be seen in more recent efforts to understand individuals through aggregated Internet data.

Jaw-Dropping Lawsuit Filed Against Dutch Serial Sperm Donor

Ellen Trachman, Above the Law | 04.05.2023

A Dutch donor-conceived advocacy organization has filed a lawsuit against a Dutch “serial sperm donor,” alleging that he has caused harm by raising the risk of incest and inbreeding because his sperm has been used to conceive between 550 and 1,000 children.

Government-Commissioned Review Recommends Changes to UK Surrogacy Law

Proposed reforms to UK surrogacy law published by the Law Commissions of Scotland and England and Wales include a new “pathway” for intended parents to become legal parents as soon as the child is born, as well as a continued ban on payment for surrogacy. These articles explain the reasons for these and other proposed reforms and the implications should they be implemented. 

Far-right Italian Government Seeks to Limit Same-Sex Couples' Use of Surrogacy

The European Parliament has condemned a recent order by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to stop certifying birth certificates for same-sex couples who had children through surrogacy in other countries. These articles explain how Meloni’s crackdown on surrogacy is part of a wider attack on the rights of LGBTQ+ Italians.

Research with exotic viruses risks a deadly outbreak, scientists warn

David Willman and Joby Warrrick, The Washington Post | 04.10.2023

Decades of global expansion of risky research into exotic viruses, including lab-engineered viruses made with synthetic DNA, has outpaced regulations to ensure the safety of the work.

‘Thousands of Dollars for Something I Didn’t Do’

Kashmir Hill and Ryan Mac, The New York Times | 03.31.2023

Because of a bad AI facial recognition match, Randal Reid spent nearly a week in jail, falsely accused of stealing purses in a state he said he had never even visited.

FBI, Pentagon helped research facial recognition for street cameras, drones

Drew Harwell, The Washington Post | 03.07.2023

Internal documents show that FBI and Department of Defense officials were working closely with academic researchers to refine artificial intelligence techniques that could help in the identification or tracking of Americans without their awareness or consent.

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