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The “Correlation” Between Statistics and Eugenics
Aubrey Clayton, Los Angeles Review of Books | 07.18.2024
In the second essay of the Legacies of Eugenics series, Aubrey Clayton excavates the troubling correlation between the birth of statistical methods and the history of eugenics. Galton, Pearson, and Fisher made causal interpretations of statistical correlations to promote their eugenic ideas. The same interpretive errors––and eugenic logics––can be found in contemporary science. Find all of the essays in the series here.
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What Is Up With the FDA? What Comes Next?
Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 07.18.2024
With drug companies finding creative ways to influence FDA’s choices, senior FDA officials overruling appointed experts, and the Supreme Court undercutting the agency’s authority, the future of the FDA is completely unclear.
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Eugenics: Still a fool's errand
Emma McDonald Kennedy, Biopolitical Times | 07.11.2024
Companies want to convince prospective parents that taking the “Gattaca route” of genetic testing and embryo selection will ensure their child's future––which makes it all the more urgent to recognize the eugenic threats these technologies pose.
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Dawn of the Silicon Valley Superbaby
Julia Black and Margaux MacColl, The Information | 07.19.2024
Commenting on the popularity of genetic screening and selection of embryos in Silicon Valley, CGS Associate Director Katie Hasson commented, “I don’t think the problem is that the rich will end up with superintelligent, superior children… but the belief that that’s what’s going on, I think, could be incredibly harmful in our society.... The danger is coming to believe that privileges come from genetics, that they’re written into their DNA in some way.” Note: this article is paywalled.
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GENE EDITING | GENE THERAPY | EUGENICS
ASSISTED REPRODUCTION | SURROGACY360 | STEM CELLS | VARIOUS
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Base Editing Tweaks Mouse Gut Microbiome, in Scientific First
Julianna LeMieux, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | 07.10.2024
For the first time, researchers have used base editing on the genomes of bacteria "in situ" in mice. This work is “a massive step forward that opens the door to rewriting our microbiomes for optimal health.”
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A pill to treat sickle cell disease? Compound that activates fetal gene raises new hope
Robert F. Service, Science | 07.04.2024
A new drug candidate for treating sickle cell disease works by switching on fetal hemoglobin production. It could be a cost-effective alternative to promising yet costly gene therapies.
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The fertility industry: profiting from vulnerability
Editorial Staff, The Lancet | 07.20.2024
In most countries, infertility treatments are offered by profit-motivated private clinics, which push costly, unproven add-on treatments and prey on the vulnerabilities of people who hope to have children.
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Most support protecting access to IVF
Staff, AP-NORC | 07.12.2024
A survey conducted in June 2024 found that about 6 in 10 adults favor protecting access to IVF, including 77% of Democrats and 56% of Republicans. The public is more divided about the fate of unused embryos produced during IVF.
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IVF in the USA: A political dance
Sonia Suter and Naomi Cahn, PET | 07.01.2024
Republicans’ and Democrats’ disagreements about how to regulate IVF have resulted in a federal stalemate. Returning regulatory questions to states provides only piecemeal protections and threatens to intensify reproductive inequalities.
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The murky world of surrogacy in Mexico
Staff, Mexico News Daily | 07.18.2024
International agencies promote surrogacy in Mexico, even though there is no federal regulation and only four states have explicit laws on surrogacy. Mexico’s Supreme Court legalized surrogacy in 2021, but lack of adequate regulation leaves open the door to human rights violations, with no legal recourse for the parties involved.
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Promised Cures, Tainted Cells: How Cord Blood Banks Mislead Parents
Sarah Kliff and Azeen Ghorayshi, The New York Times | 07.15.2024
Cord blood banks have consistently misled customers and doctors about “lifesaving possibilities.” In fact, umbilical cord blood is no longer a preferred source for stem cells, and samples are often contaminated and unusable.
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A Retracted Stem Cell Study Reveals Science’s Shortcomings
Peter Aldhous, Scientific American | 07.02.2024
The recent retraction of a decades-old, high-profile stem cell research paper shows fundamental problems in the ways that research is conducted, funding is allocated, and research findings are reported to the public.
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Peter Thiel’s doping games and tech’s quest for a superhuman
Parmy Olson, Bloomberg Opinion | 07.12.2024
Peter Thiel’s “Enhanced Games” is a “pro-doping Olympics” that allows athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs. Behind it is a broader transhumanist quest that promotes eugenic ideas and threatens to deepen inequality.
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