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Is CGS in Your Plans? 2020 will be a pivotal year in the ongoing controversy about heritable genome editing. CGS is the only independent US nonprofit focused on confronting dangerous misuses of human genetic technologies, including the emerging threat of a new eugenics Your support makes this work possible. Make an end-of-year contribution today, and join the fight for genetic justice!
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Scientist on the Loose: George Church Strays Into Eugenics—Again
Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 12.11.2019
In a recent 60 Minutes interview, George Church talked about developing an app to match couples via their DNA, thereby preventing the births of children with inherited diseases. It’s not the first time Church has unleashed his eugenic ideas in the mainstream.
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Do Not Open the Door
Marcy Darnovsky, Southwestern Medical Perspectives | 12.04.2019
The claim that heritable genome editing is necessary to “reduce human suffering in profound and meaningful ways” is misleading for several reasons. In fact, there is no compelling medical reason to develop heritable genome editing. Unless we want to build a world divided into genetic “haves” and “have nots,” let’s keep the door shut.
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Meet the Republican Transhumanist, Zoltan the Magnificent!
Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 12.06.2019
Zoltan Istvan is running for president of the United States—for the second time. His platform includes paving the way for human heritable genome editing, human cloning, and the widespread use of artificial wombs.
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Polygenic Traits, Human Embryos, and Eugenic Dreams
Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 12.04.2019
The primary function of polygenic risk scores is to identify a person’s or embryo’s risk of developing a particular disease. However, a new study calls into question whether such predictions can ever be accurately validated, and points to the fact that scores for height and intelligence have not held up under scrutiny.
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CRISPR Babies – One Year Later
Katie Hasson & Adrienne van der Valk, Biopolitical Times | 12.02.2019
We might have expected heritable genome editing to be a top issue for politicians this year given the outcry over the CRISPR babies scandal—yet, we remain at a tipping point. If we are to counteract the small but vocal group of techno-enthusiasts determined to pursue heritable genome editing, we need to take decisive and immediate action.
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The Year After the “CRISPR Babies” Bombshell
Pete Shank, Biopolitical Times | 11.22.2019
The “CRISPR babies” announcement made headlines around the world, and the response is still developing. Looking back at key events surrounding the human germline editing debate, it’s clear we need better and more concrete proposals for regulation if we are to head off more bombshells.
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Book Review: Altered Inheritance—CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing
Gina Maranto, Biopolitical Times | 11.15.2019
Françoise Baylis’ new book offers an “incisive, insightful, and rigorous” examination of the issues surrounding heritable genome editing. Rather than avoiding the arguments in favor of the technology, she tackles them head-on, correcting misconceptions, reframing misrepresentations, and offering nuanced perspectives honed over years of thoughtful study.
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Climate Crisis, Designer Babies, Our Common Future
CGS Staff, Biopolitical Times | 11.13.2019
The public conversation between john a. powell and Bill McKibben drew enthusiastic responses from a full-house audience eager to talk about the connections between climate change and heritable genome editing. The learning continues via the on-demand recording, transcript, and highlights from the evening.
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IVF Add-on Procedures Offer False Hope
Kelly Glass, Medium Elemental | 11.06.2019
Many fertility clinics offer an expensive “à la carte” menu of services advertised to increase the likelihood of IVF success. However, as CGS’ Marcy Darnovsky notes, new evidence suggests that some clinics inflate their success rates through “extensive and persuasive marketing that is sometimes misleading about one’s chances of taking home a baby.”
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Debating Human Gene Editing
Victoria Turner, Synapse | 11.08.2019
The new film Anya addresses the complexities of human genome editing and the forces that compel our decisions about assisted reproduction. Following a recent screening and discussion, CGS’ Marcy Darnovsky and other panel members observed that, while billed as science fiction, the dilemmas posed in Anya are not far outside the realm of possibility.
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Wiping Out the Daughters: Burkina Faso's Controversial Mosquito Experiment
Hidde Boersma and Joost Bastmeijer, The Guardian | 11.18.2019
The controversial use of gene drive technology is moving to Burkina Faso, which will see the release of genetically modified mosquitoes. By limiting the birth of females, scientists hope to drastically limit the spread of malaria, which kills 400,000 people worldwide each year.
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Scientists Dodge FDA to Offer a $1 Million Anti-Aging Treatment in Colombia
Emily Mullin, Medium One Zero | 12.05.2019
A Kansas-based company is offering a gene therapy it says can reverse aging by up to 20 years, and it’s taking the clinical trial to a small clinic in South America. Scientists and ethicists are sounding the alarm about the medically questionable trial, the ethics of the pricetag, and the location.
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The World's First Gattaca Baby Tests Are Finally Here
Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review | 11.08.2019
The biotech company Genomic Prediction will soon offer embryo report cards designed to help parents choose the healthiest and “best” option for implantation. The test includes not only indicators for common health problems, but markers related to intelligence and height.
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Crack Down on Genomic Surveillance
Yves Moreau, Nature | 12.03.2019
DNA databases that could be used for state-level surveillance are steadily growing. Without stringent safeguards, the use of these data can all too easily creep from legitimate law-enforcement efforts to human rights abuses.
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Consumer DNA Testing May Be the Biggest Health Scam of the Decade
Ed Cara, Gizmodo | 11.20.2019
The US Food and Drug Administration and Government Accountability Office began broadcasting warnings about direct-to-consumer DNA testing a decade ago. Despite legal and public relations set-backs, the industry has flourished, putting tens of millions of people at risk for misunderstanding their medical futures and losing their genetic privacy.
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Your DNA Profile is Private? A Florida Judge Just Said Otherwise
Kashmir Hill and Heather Murphy, The New York Times | 11.07.2019
A Florida detective recently obtained a warrant to search a DNA database of nearly one million users—a first in the US criminal justice system. Legal experts say the development could have profound implications for genetic privacy.
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Sequencing the Genome of Every UK Baby Would Be an Ethical Minefield
Clare Wilson, New Scientist | 11.07.2019
Many doctors are deeply concerned about the ethics of a new National Health Service plan to conduct genetic testing on every baby born in the UK. The plan poses questions about genetic privacy, bodily autonomy, and the value of testing babies for conditions that manifest later in life.
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| HUMAN GENETIC MODIFICATION |
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Gene Editing Might Alter Our DNA. It Might Destroy Our Humanity, Too.
Mark Buchanan, Bloomberg | 11.25.2019
The medical risks of heritable genome editing are numerous and extreme, but the most frightening thing about the use of this technology is its irreversible societal effects—on parents’ relationships with their children, on income inequality, and on our collective beliefs about what it means to be human.
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Human Germline Editing Needs One Message
Nature Editorial Board, Nature | 11.20.2019
Currently, there are two different international commissions on the clinical use of heritable genome editing. The existence of two panels—neither of which includes adequate representation from the disability rights community—is a bureaucratic hindrance to comprehensive, inclusive deliberation.
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NIH Director Backs Moratorium for Heritable Genome Editing
Kevin Davies, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | 11.08.2019
Speaking at a Policy Summit hosted by the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, Francis Collins offered his full support for an international moratorium on the first anniversary of the birth of the CRISPR babies in China.
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Can Biology Class Reduce Racism?
Amy Harmon, The New York Times | 12.07.2019
Teachers in Colorado have volunteered to use an experimental curriculum that inserts the topics of race and ancestry into lessons about Gregor Mendel and the basic function of DNA.
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China Uses DNA to Map Faces, With Help From the West
Sui-Lee Wee & Paul Mozur, The New York Times | 12.03.2019
Scientists in China, the US, and elsewhere are trying to use DNA samples to create images of people’s faces. The technology could be used to justify and intensify racial profiling in China and other state discrimination against Uighurs.
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