The latest from the Center for Genetics and Society     DONATE April 19, 2024       Challenging the Legacies of Eugenics in Science, Medicine, and Technology A new anti-eugenics initiative kicked off this week with the first in a series of essays to be published at Los Angeles Review of Books. The introductory essay was written by CGS senior fellow and UC Berkeley professor Osagie Obasogie. The essays and associated events will expose and contest eugenic ideas in science, medicine, and biotechnology. Learn more about CGS’ collaboration with Othering and Belonging Institute and Berkeley Public Health in our latest blog post.     Science on Screen: Gattaca As part of the “Science on Screen” series at Smith Rafael Film Center, CGS’ Katie Hasson will​​ discuss the movie Gattaca and what it has to say about the social and ethical implications of human genetics. In person in San Rafael, CA, on June 13 at 7 pm. Purchase tickets for the film screening and conversation here.   GENE EDITING | EUGENICS ASSISTED REPRODUCTION | VARIOUS   GENE EDITING How to Avoid a Genetic Arms Race Yelena Biberman and Jonathan D. Moreno, Bioethics Forum | 04.16.2024 U.S. intelligence has warned that genome editing could be an attractive means for bad actors to wage war in an unstable geopolitical climate, making it a potential "weapon of mass destruction." A Jim Wilson startup will conduct the first FDA-approved tests of a form of gene editing in infants Harold Brubaker, The Philadelphia Inquirer | 04.04.2024 A company founded by UPenn scientist Jim Wilson, whose 1999 experiment resulted in the death of Jesse Gelsinger, has received FDA approval to test a gene editing treatment in infants unable to make a needed liver enzyme. Verve Halts Trial for Lead Gene Editing Program Due to Safety Concerns Tristan Manalac, BioSpace | 04.02.2024 Verve Therapeutics suspended enrollment in the study evaluating gene editing treatment for high cholesterol after a participant in the trial that was receiving the drug had elevated liver enzymes and low platelet levels. Scientist who gene-edited babies is back in lab and ‘proud’ of past work despite jailing Justin McCurry, The Guardian | 04.01.2024 Despite being convicted and imprisoned for his reckless heritable genome editing experiments, He Jiankui has resumed embryo editing research, though its reproductive use remains widely illegal and rejected by the public.   EUGENICS Who deserves to have a baby? Neel Shah, The Preprint | 04.11.2024 In American medicine, the myth that Black people’s bodies are biologically different resurfaces to justify disparities driven by inequitable circumstances, and yet Black bodies are also treated as similar enough to exploit for the benefit of white people. This Woman Will Decide Which Babies Are Born Jason Kehe, Wired | 04.11.2024 The founder of fertility startup Orchid pitches preimplantation genetic testing as a way to avoid risk and human suffering, but she fails to consider how the technique promotes eugenics. The TESCREAL bundle: Eugenics and the promise of utopia through artificial general intelligence Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres, First Monday | 04.01.2024 The normative framework that motivates the building of artificial general intelligence is rooted in 20th century Anglo-American eugenic thinking. The same discriminatory attitudes that animated eugenicists––racism, xenophobia, classism, ableism, and sexism––remain widespread within the movement to build AGI. ‘We Were Dangerous’ Team on How New Zealand’s Early 20th Century Eugenics Movement Inspired Sterilization Plot in Taika Waititi-Produced SXSW Film Jennifer Maas, Variety | 03.22.2024 The new film “We Were Dangerous” explores New Zealand’s history of eugenics, including incidents of forced sterilization in institutions that confined many indigenous people and people with mental disabilities.   ASSISTED REPRODUCTION Pro-Lifers Are Up Against a Real-Life Crisis Judith Levine, The Intercept | 04.04.2024 The overturning of Roe v. Wade has unleashed state legislation that gives cells in petri dishes more rights than the people whose bodies give them life. But Republicans are beginning to find out that in the IVF-embryonic personhood debate, sometimes you have to choose a side. Hospital at Center of Alabama Embryo Ruling Is Ending I.V.F. Services Emily Cochrane, The New York Times | 04.03.2024 An Alabama hospital at the center of the state’s legal controversies regarding frozen embryos will not provide IVF after this year because of the lack of clarity in state law. What If You Hadn’t Frozen Your Eggs? For some egg-freezing patients, the grueling procedure can feel like more trouble than it’s worth. Rae Nudson, The Cut | 04.02.2024 Based on clinic advertising, many women expect egg freezing to be an easy way to ensure future fertility. But going through the procedure can be more grueling and uncertain than clinics will admit. Michigan governor signs act to decriminalize paid surrogacy contracts Sabrina Souza and Zoe Sottile, CNN | 04.01.2024 Michigan passed a nine-bill package that will decriminalize compensated surrogacy and set new surrogacy standards related to parentage, legal contracts, and who can be a surrogate. Taiwan needs more babies. But conservative traditions are holding back some fertility solutions Eric Cheung, CNN | 03.30.2024 Same-sex couples and single women are banned from accessing IVF and egg freezing In Taiwan, and surrogacy is outlawed entirely. LGBTQIA+ advocates are pushing for legal changes to expand access. Fertility clinics ‘pressuring’ young women to freeze their eggs Eleanor Hayward and Joanna Crawford, The Times | 03.29.2024 Private fertility clinics in the UK are partnering with social media influencers to advertise egg freezing to women on TikTok and Instagram without disclosing the risks of the procedure.   VARIOUS We Need to be Ready for Biotech’s ChatGPT Moment Eric Schmidt, TIME | 04.16.2024 With significant innovation in biology and artificial intelligence, we are on the verge of a “ChatGPT moment” in biotech. But more work is needed to ensure that necessary regulations and guardrails are in place to manage the risks that come with new biotechnologies. Little change in Japan’s research sector 10 years after stem cell fraud Tomoko Otake, The Japan Times | 04.09.2024 A decade after a Japanese researcher fabricated data to claim she had discovered a novel way to create stem cells, Japan’s regulations leave ample room for researchers to tamper with data and for institutions to sweep scandals under the rug. Patient With Transplanted Pig Kidney Leaves Hospital for Home Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times | 04.03.2024 The first patient to receive a kidney transplanted from a genetically modified pig has been discharged from the hospital after recovering from complications following the transplant. Revealed: a California city is training AI to spot homeless encampments Todd Feathers, The Guardian | 03.25.2024 San Jose has been training artificial intelligence to recognize tents and cars with people living inside in footage from public places. Local outreach workers worry that AI surveillance technology will be used to punish and push out the city’s unhoused residents. Sam Altman's mission to increase human lifespan with a $180 million shipping container experiment at Retro Biosciences Hilary Brueck, Business Insider | 03.23.2024 While Sam Altman’s role in developing AI technologies is well known, he is also investing time and money in another popular Silicon Valley venture: longevity. His $180M “side project” is trying to increase the human lifespan. Mexico smacks US over GM corn and glyphosate Carey Gillan, UnSpun | 03.18.2024 Resisting pressure from the U.S., the Mexican government ordered that GM corn not be used for tortillas and dough that people eat and instructed farmers to stop using the weed-killing chemical glyphosate.   If you’ve read this far, you clearly care about the fight to reclaim human biotechnologies for the common good. Thank you!  Will you support CGS by making a donation today? 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