Email from The Center For Genetics and Society The latest from the Center for Genetics and Society     DONATE June 27, 2025         The tech billionaires and rogue scientists moving to commercialize CRISPR babies Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical Times | 6.26.2025 Undeterred by the near-global policy consensus against heritable genome editing and the widespread concerns about a techno-eugenic future that it would enable, several tech billionaires are investing in private companies that explicitly aim to create genetically modified children. This new and more alarming phase of biotechnology misuse requires renewed resistance.     Welcome, Matteo! Matteo Zumbano, a rising junior at Hampshire College studying Public Health and Philosophy with a focus on Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice, joins CGS this summer through Collective Power’s Collective Rising internship program. Through their work with CGS, Matteo hopes to gain a better understanding of how gene editing technologies relate to current eugenics and population control movements.       The Post-Human Games Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 6.26.2025 Steroid-supported sports have been debated––and dismissed––for decades. Transhumanists and biohackers, with the support of Peter Thiel and other Silicon Valley venture capitalists, are still trying to make the “Enhanced Games” happen. Remembering George Annas (1945-2025) Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical Times | 06.17.2025 CGS mourns the loss of long-time colleague George Annas, a prolific speaker, writer, and scholar of health law. His legacy includes over 20+ years of collaboration with CGS to oppose heritable genome editing and voice concerns about the eugenic risks of reprogenetic technologies.     HERITABLE HUMAN GENOME EDITING | GENE THERAPY | GENOMICS EUGENICS | SURROGACY 360 | ASSISTED REPRODUCTION | VARIOUS   HERITABLE HUMAN GENOME EDITING ‘Superbabies’ Startup Seeks Funds for Controversial Gene Editing Push Sophie Alexander and Ike Swetlitz, Bloomberg | 06.25.2025 Despite the safety risks and the recent calls from scientists for a 10-year ban on heritable human genome editing, a California startup is raising funds to edit human embryos in a private lab. They are considering locating their lab in another country to escape U.S. regulatory oversight. Scientists create fertile mice with two fathers for first time Rhys Blakely, The Times | 6.24.2025 Scientists created fertile male mice from two sperm cells and an enucleated egg using epigenetic editing. Out of 259 embryos implanted into female mice, only two male pups survived to adulthood. When Will Genetically Modifying Our Children Go Mainstream? Ed Cara, Gizmodo | 06.22.2025 Bioethicists comment on the recent call for a 10-year moratorium on heritable human genome editing––and the broader question of whether genetic modification of children is ever a good idea. Crypto billionaire Brian Armstrong is ready to invest in CRISPR baby tech Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 06.05.2025 Crypto billionaire Brian Armstrong wants to fund an embryo editing startup, despite the practice being illegal in most countries and fraught with safety, ethical, and societal risks. Armstrong’s investment idea comes at the same time as gene editing scientists and industry groups are calling for a 10-year moratorium on heritable human genome editing.   GENE THERAPY Gene Therapy Cuts Bleeding and Medicine for Hemophilia B Patients for Over a Decade Briana Contreras, Managed Healthcare Executive | 06.17.2025 A study following patients for 13 years found that a viral-vector gene therapy that delivered a working F9 gene to the liver boosted long-term production of factor IX, the clotting protein missing in people with hemophilia B. The treatment reduced bleeding episodes and the need for regular infusions. Sarepta reports 2nd death after DMD gene therapy Elevidys, stops dosing in half of patients Angus Liu, Fierce Pharma | 06.16.2025 A second teenage boy being treated with Sarepta’s gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy has died from liver failure, which is thought to have resulted from an immune reaction to the therapy’s viral vector. Sarepta has suspended treatment for non-ambulatory patients and is seeking FDA approval for an immunosuppressant measure to address risks of liver damage. ‘Not a horse and pony show’: At FDA cell and gene roundtable, officials look for ways to cut red tape Darren Incorvaia, Fierce Biotech | 06.05.2025 At an FDA-hosted roundtable, RFK Jr. asked scientists and advocates to propose regulations they would like to see eliminated. Participants focused on removing “red tape” regulating experimental cell and gene therapies. First Personalized CRISPR Gene Editing Therapy Patient Baby KJ Discharged Jonathan D. Grinstein, Inside Precision Medicine | 06.03.2025 Baby KJ, the first to receive a personalized CRISPR gene therapy to treat a severe carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 deficiency, has been discharged from the hospital after 307 days.   GENOMICS Work begins to create artificial human DNA from scratch Pallab Gosh and Gwyndaf Hughes, BBC News | 06.26.2025 A controversial research project, the “Synthetic Human Genome Project,” will attempt to make human DNA from scratch. The project purports to have therapeutic aims, but its insights could be misused to attempt to develop bioweapons or create “designer babies.” California objects to 23andMe sale to former CEO, says it would skirt state privacy law Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times | 06.16.2025 California’s attorney general says that selling 23andMe to a nonprofit formed by Anne Wojcicki, the company’s former CEO, would sidestep a 2021 state law that aims to ensure consumers give "separate and express" consent before transfer or disclosure of their genetic data. 23andMe’s founder wins bid to regain control of bankrupt DNA testing firm Siddhi Mahatole and Mariam E. Sunny, Reuters | 06.13.2025 23andMe’s former CEO will regain control of the company through a just established non-profit. Their $305m bid exceeded the pharmaceutical company Regeneron’s offer for it in a bankruptcy auction. Dozens of states sue to block the sale of 23andMe personal genetic data The Associated Press | 06.10.2025 27 states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit to block 23andMe’s sale of personal genetic data without customer consent. The suit argues that such deeply personal information can’t be sold like ordinary property and should be under the control of customers. The US Is Storing Migrant Children’s DNA in a Criminal Database Dhruv Mehrotra, Wired | 05.29.2025 The U.S. government’s biometric surveillance reaches further than was previously known. DNA samples from over 133,000 migrant children and teenagers—including at least one 4-year-old—have been added to a national criminal database used by local, state, and federal law enforcement.   EUGENICS Parents Can Choose Genetic Makeup of Their Children With New IVF Option Isabel van Brugen, Newsweek | 06.05.2025 Nucleus Genomics claims that its polygenic risk screening for IVF can not only predict the probability of an embryo later developing chronic conditions and cancers but also reveal eye color, BMI, and “IQ-related markers.” Critics question the eugenic aims of such testing. The Techno-Futuristic Philosophy Behind Elon Musk’s Mania Matthew Purdy, The New York Times | 05.29.2025 Elon Musk is leaving government work behind, returning to his business ventures and the techno-futuristic philosophies motivating them. Musk’s longtermism claims to be concerned for future humanity––at the expense of society now. Donald Trump’s Decades-Long Obsession With Eugenics Julia Métraux, Mother Jones | 05.28.2025 Trump’s obsession with IQ and comments about bad genes aren’t a recent phenomenon. His eugenicist mindset is evident from disparaging comments he made about people with disabilities dating back to the 1980s.   SURROGACY 360   Babies for sale: New Zealanders commissioning illegal surrogacy in Thailand Jeremy Wilkinson, The New Zealand Herald | 05.31.2025 New Zealand’s ministry for children is raising concerns about New Zealanders travelling to Thailand to have children via surrogacy, where it is illegal, before bringing them home to legally adopt them. New Zealand’s outdated family laws contribute to difficulties addressing these practices.   ASSISTED REPRODUCTION Monash IVF bungles spark transparency, regulation questions in growing industry Elise Kinsella, ABC | 06.15.2025 Researchers and scientists are calling for more transparency in Australia’s IVF industry. Because regulators don’t have to let the public know about incidents like embryo mix-ups, it’s not clear how common serious mistakes are in clinics. ‘That child is not a product’: how IVF big business plays on hope of people desperate for a family Tory Shepherd, The Guardian | 06.13.2025 Bioethicists and others are concerned that IVF clinics are overpromising the chance of pregnancy via IVF and overselling extra cycles and nonessential “add-ons” with little evidence of benefit. IVF is big business. But when patients become customers, what does this mean for their care? Hillary Bowman-Smart and Craig Stanbury, The Conversation | 06.12.2025 More regulation of Australian fertility clinics at the national level would help respond to the rapid growth of the sector and prevent incidents like the recent Monash IVF embryo mix-ups.   VARIOUS Bitter harvest — 30 years of broken GMO promises Save Our Seeds and GMWatch | 06.23.2025 Bold claims about the potential for agricultural GMOs have fallen flat. Instead of helping farmers and reducing environmental harms, they have led to more chemical-dependent monocultures, more environmental damage, and tighter corporate control over seeds and inputs. People With Severe Diabetes Are Cured in Small Trial of New Drug Gina Kolata, The New York Times | 06.20.2025 A single infusion of a stem cell-based treatment may have cured 10 of 12 people with the most severe form of type 1 diabetes. One year later, these 10 patients no longer need insulin, and the other two patients need much lower doses. Inside the AI Party at the End of the World Kylie Robison, Wired | 06.11.2025 At a recent symposium in San Francisco, AI researchers, philosophers, and technologists who embrace predictions that superintelligent AI is imminent heard proposals that AGI ought to be considered a “successor” to humanity. Kennedy Says ‘Charlatans’ Are No Reason to Block Unproven Stem Cell Treatments Christina Jewett, The New York Times | 06.05.2025 RFK Jr. revealed his own use of an unproven stem cell procedure in Antigua and said he wanted to expand access to similar risky treatments. The change, if enacted, would reverse FDA policies that regulate clinics offering dangerous stem cell treatments. Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans Sheera Frenkel and Aaron Krolik, The New York Times | 05.30.2025 The Trump administration has quietly begun deploying technology from the company Palantir to merge and organize data in different government systems. The effort could signal that Trump is advancing his aim of a mass surveillance program of people in the U.S.   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? DONATE       SUBSCRIBE | WEBSITE | ABOUT US | CONTACT       DONATE The Center For Genetics and Society | 2900 Lakeshore Avenue | Oakland, CA 94610 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice