July 15, 2022

GENOME EDITING | ASSISTED REPRODUCTION | REACTIONS TO DOBBS RULING | 

EUGENICS | SURROGACY360 | ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | VARIOUS

Edits to a cholesterol gene could stop the biggest killer on earth

Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 07.12.2022

A volunteer in New Zealand became the first person to have a version of CRISPR injected to modify a single letter of DNA in their liver cells in order to lower their cholesterol. If successful, the technique could be used widely to prevent cardiovascular disease. 

Secrecy: A demon of gene therapy’s past bedevils its future

Eric B. Kmiec, STAT | 07.11.2022

The field of gene therapy was once severely damaged by not sharing data that may have been able to prevent a young man from losing his life. Transparency in gene therapy research is vital to success. 

‘Softer’ form of CRISPR may edit genes more accurately

Carissa Wong, New Scientist | 07.01.2022

Gene editing with CRISPR can cause off-target mutations, but a new form of the technique that cuts one strand of DNA instead of both may reduce off-target effects.

What’s next for the gene-edited children from CRISPR trial in China?

Nicolas Gutierrez C., New Scientist | 06.29.2022

Scientists in China are considering how best to look after three children who were gene-edited as embryos in He Jiankui’s controversial experiment.

She promised babies at bargain prices using surrogates in Mexico. Now the FBI is investigating

Emily Baumgaertner, Los Angeles Times | 07.10.2022

Lilly Frost promised clients that they would become parents through surrogacy if they paid her a flat fee. Many discovered far too late that this was too good to be true, and Frost’s collapsed business is under federal investigation. 

Eggs and sperm can now be stored for up to 55 years – here’s what that means for donors and people seeking fertility treatment

Caroline A. B. Redhead, Jackson Kirkman-Brown, Leah Gilman, and Lucy Frith, The Conversation | 07.04.2022 

The UK government has just extended the period that eggs, sperm, and embryos can be stored from 10 years to 55 years. What are the implications of making some donors’ gametes available for much longer periods?

Colorado Court Of Appeals Rules For Privacy Rights In Embryo Dispute

Ellen Trachman, Above the Law | 06.29.2022

Ruling on a divorced couple’s dispute over surplus IVF embryos, the Colorado Court of Appeals found that the constitutionally-based privacy right to reproduce or not prevails over a “sincerely held religious belief” that embryos are people.

Fertility Medicine After Roe

Nairi Shirinian and Meghna Mukherjee, Ms. Magazine | 07.13.2022

The end of Roe, combined with existing anti-poor fertility policies, means that women—especially poor women of color—will have even less of a say in the time and circumstances in which they decide to have a family.

Infertility Patients and Doctors Fear Abortion Bans Could Restrict I.V.F.

Jan Hoffman, The New York Times | 07.05.2022

Many state laws banning abortion from conception do not distinguish between fertilization that happens in the womb or in the lab, meaning that the laws may restrict genetic testing, storage, and disposal of embryos in the IVF process.

We Need Racial Solidarity to Restore Abortion Rights

Loretta J. Ross, CounterPunch | 07.01.2022

Restrictions on abortion and birth control aim to increase births among White women, furthering a broader white supremacist, eugenicist agenda. Black, indigenous, and people of color and LGBTQIA+ people will be injured disproportionately.

All the Ways Dobbs Will Harm Pregnant Women, Whether or Not They Want an Abortion

Sonia M. Suter, Slate | 06.29.2022

The Dobbs decision does not just affect those who wish to end pregnancies––it also impacts those who want to have a child. States and potentially Congress can interfere with and surveil the entire reproductive cycle, from efforts to conceive to delivery. 

State Abortion Trigger Laws: Potential Implications for Reproductive Medicine

ASRM Center for Policy and Leadership | 06.29.2022

An American Society for Reproductive Medicine report analyzes thirteen states' abortion trigger laws and their implications for reproductive medicine, including IVF and genetic testing.

Genetic Screening Results Just Got Harder to Handle Under New Abortion Rules

Sara Reardon, Kaiser Health News | 06.27.2022

Restrictive abortion laws in Texas and other states make it virtually impossible to terminate a pregnancy based on prenatal genetic testing results, unless patients have the resources to travel elsewhere for the procedure.

With Roe v. Wade overturned, disabled people reflect on how it will impact them

Shruti Rajkumar, NPR | 06.25.2022

Overturning Roe v. Wade will disproportionately impact disabled people, who already face threats to their bodily autonomy. 

Disabled People Never Had Full Autonomy Over Our Reproductive Rights

Anja Herrman, Teen Vogue | 07.05.2022

For disabled people, Roe v. Wade was never enough to protect reproductive rights. The early 20th century eugenics movement advocated for the forced sterilization of disabled people, which is still permitted by laws in 31 states.

Reproductive control of Indigenous women continues around the world, say survivors and researchers

Gillian Rutherford, University of Alberta | 06.27.2022

Survivors of forced sterilization and coerced contraception from Canada, Peru, and Indonesia will gather with researchers at a summit in August to share stories, heal through art and ceremony, and set an agenda for change.

Wombs For Rent: The Legalization of Commercial Surrogacy

Reed Pence, Taina Bien-Aimé, Dr. Linda Kahn, and Ashley Mareko, Radio Health Journal | 06.12.2022

In this podcast, the Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women discusses ways that surrogacy is exploitative, while a three-time surrogate who works for a surrogacy agency argues that company policies can safeguard parties in surrogacy arrangements.

Here’s How AI Is Helping Make Babies By Revolutionizing IVF

Ganes Kesari, Forbes | 06.30.2022

Fertility startups see promise in using artificial intelligence to enhance IVF offerings and expand their market by increasing access to IVF.

Who Is Liable when AI Kills?

George Maliha and Ravi B. Parikh, Scientific American | 06.29.2022

Our current liability system is completely unprepared for AI. Everyone along the chain from developers to users should bear enough liability to ensure AI safety and effectiveness.

Cloned mice created from freeze dried skin cells in world first

Ian Sample, The Guardian | 07.05.2022

Researchers in Japan have created cloned mice from freeze-dried skin cells, with the hope that the technique could help conservationists revive populations of endangered species.

Amid the Turmoil of Covid, Biosafety Legislation Gets Political

Michael Schulson, Undark Magazine | 06.27.2022

The pandemic has polarized a previously bipartisan conversation about safety practices in labs working with dangerous pathogens, leaving Congressional Democrats hesitant to engage publicly on biosafety and biosecurity issues. 

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