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GATTACA on Screen in San Rafael with Katie Hasson
Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 06.26.2024
GATTACA was released in 1997, but is even more relevant now than it was then, as the technologies whose social implications it explores have developed considerably. The sci-fi setup may have seemed far out when the film was released, but today companies are selling Gattaca-like claims about selecting the healthiest and smartest embryos.
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The Promise and Peril of CRISPR: Out July 2nd!
CGS’ Marcy Darnovsky and Katie Hasson have an essay in an exciting new edited volume on the potential impacts of gene editing technology, due out July 2 from Johns Hopkins University Press. Edited by Neal Baer, the collection brings together essays by influential bioethicists, philosophers, and geneticists to explore the moral, ethical, and policy challenges posed by CRISPR technology. Look for Marcy and Katie’s essay “Untangling CRISPR’s Twisted Tales.”
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National Council on Disability releases report: From Fetal Surgery to Gene Editing
A new report outlining a disability rights critique of heritable gene editing and other "prenatal interventions" has been released by the National Council on Disability, an independent US federal agency. The report explores the current and future impact of new and emerging reprogenetic technologies on people with disabilities. CGS executive director Marcy Darnovsky was a key informant and is quoted extensively throughout the report, along with several CGS allies.
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Welcome, Kyla!
Kyla Rosin has joined CGS this summer as an intern through the Collective Rising internship program. Kyla is a rising sophomore at Emory University pursuing a Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology degree. She hopes to deepen her knowledge of the intersections between science and politics while working toward a more equitable and inclusive future in both. In particular, she is curious about how mental illness is included in discussions of genetic selection and modification. She strives to eventually become a practicing therapist, founding her work on social justice.
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Population Bomb, Great Replacement Theory, and Pronatalism
Kyla Rosin, Biopolitical Times | 06.27.2024
Panelists including CGS Executive Director Marcy Darnovsky discussed the history of eugenics and population control and its legacies, which are visible today in right-wing politics, anti-immigrant bias, and the selection of embryos based on polygenic risk scores. The conversation was part of the symposium “A Century of Eugenics on our Borders.”
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How Long Will the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Survive?
Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 06.17.2024
California’s state-funded stem cell agency is at a “watershed moment” in its 20-year history. With few successes to show for its investments thus far and a changing landscape of gene therapies and stem cell innovations, CIRM faces questions about its leadership, funding priorities, and long-term sustainability.
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The legacy of eugenics
Sheila Kaplan, UC Berkeley School of Public Health | 06.20.2024
With support from CGS and other organizations, UC Berkeley professor of law and bioethics and CGS Senior Fellow Osagie Obasogie has launched “Legacies of Eugenics,” a series of essays on eugenics in science, medicine, and technology, published in the Los Angeles Review of Books.
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GENE EDITING | GENOMICS | GENE THERAPY | EUGENICS
ASSISTED REPRODUCTION | SURROGACY360 | STEM CELLS
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Come Together: Bridge RNAs Close the Gap to Genome Design
Jonathan D. Grinstein, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | 06.26.2024
A new study proposes a more flexible gene editing technique, an RNA-guided system that enables modular and programmable DNA insertions, excisions, and inversions. The approach avoids making permanent, and sometimes unintended, changes to genetic code.
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Gene editing’s next big targets
Alison Snyder, Axios | 06.06.2024
Following FDA approval of a gene therapy for sickle cell disease, researchers are exploring new techniques and turning their attention to developing gene therapies for cancers, common diseases, and ageing.
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Who’s Paying for Million-Dollar Gene Therapies?
Karen Fischer, BioSpace | 06.12.2024
Private insurers in the U.S. seem to be covering costly gene therapies for sickle cell disease and a type of hemophilia. Public payers are negotiating lower price tags for gene therapies and are developing rebate options in case the treatments don't work.
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Southern Baptists Vote to Oppose Use of I.V.F.
Ruth Graham, The New York Times | 06.12.2024
Southern Baptists, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, voted to oppose IVF, suggesting that the powerful conservative voting bloc may support fetal personhood laws that limit access to IVF.
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‘We traveled thousands of miles for a child’ – is Taiwan ready for surrogacy?
Evelyn Yang, Focus Taiwan | 06.15.2024
Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to amend the Assisted Reproduction Act to legalize surrogacy, a move supported by many LGBTQ families who sought surrogacy arrangements abroad. Some women's groups and scholars want to see surrogacy addressed in separate law amendments.
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