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Read our comments on the latest development in the “CRISPR babies” scandal. While we applaud the sentencing, as CGS' Katie Hasson observes, "The risks of heritable genome editing extend beyond individual countries. It is a global concern and therefore a global responsibility."
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Reactions to Jail Sentences for “CRISPR Babies” Scientists, and What Comes Next
Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 01.09.2020
How should the sentencing of "CRISPR Babies" scientist He Jiankui be interpreted? Benjamin Hurlbut, Françoise Baylis, and others from across the spectrum of human biotechnology and bioethics stakeholders weighed in immediately after the news broke over the western New Years holiday.
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CGS Year In Review: The Fight for Genetic Justice in 2019
CGS Staff, Biopolitical Times | 12.31.2019
CGS covered a lot of ground this year: from protesting heritable genome modification, to pursuing a genetic privacy lawsuit, to exposing fertility scams, to relaunching a project focused on international commercial surrogacy, and much more.
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The Best of Biopolitical Times: 2019 Edition
CGS Staff, Biopolitical Times | 12.24.2019
Biopolitical Times highlights the latest developments in the social, political, and ethical implications of human biotechnologies. This list offers the highlights of a year that saw many historic developments.
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The U.S. Government’s Mass Collection of Immigrant DNA Hints at Surveillance Future
Emily Mullin, Medium One Zero | 01.08.2020
The US government has been critical of forced DNA collection in China, where DNA and other biometric data is being gathered from Muslim Uighurs. Now, it's happening domestically as well, a practice that, as CGS’ Katie Hasson notes, “exposes not only individuals, but also their families in the U.S. and abroad, to serious privacy risks.”
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The Corrupting Syndrome of the Super-rich
Anis Chowdhury, The Financial Express | 01.07.2020
All indicators are that only the wealthy would be able to afford gene-edited babies. Says CGS Executive Director Marcy Darnovsky, "Genome editing for human embryos is an unnecessary threat to society," and would produce a population of genetic “haves” and “have nots.”
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What Happened to All Those Frozen Eggs?
Sarah Elizabeth Richards, The New York Times | 12.21.2019
The medical establishment advertised egg freezing as a way to prolong fertility and mitigate gender inequity by giving women more freedom to pursue their careers. In reality, it’s not clear whether egg freezing will really allow a significant number of women to have children later in life.
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The Dark Side of Our Genealogy Craze
Honor Sachs, The Washington Post | 12.13.2019
Even as genealogy offers belonging to those who have been historically denied access to knowledge of their ancestry, it empowers those who seek to divide, deny, and marginalize segments of society.
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A DNA Firm That Caters to Police Just Bought a Genealogy Site
Megan Molteni, Wired | 12.09.2019
GEDmatch was the site used to identify a suspect in the Golden State Killer case. Now, what was once a hobbyist genealogy site has been purchased by the forensic genomics firm Verogen, which specializes in next-generation DNA testing services catered to law enforcement.
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Scientific Ethics and Gene Edited Babies
Françoise Baylis, The Boston Globe | 01.05.2020
China’s response to He’s reckless experiment indicates that the government takes it seriously and is willing to send a message. But it should be noted that He was trained in the United States—not China—and that some of his US colleagues knew about the experiment and did nothing.
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Prison Sentence for Creator of First CRISPR Babies Reignites Ethical Debate
Françoise Baylis, The Conversation | 01.05.2020
The prison terms given to He Jiankui and his colleagues will not bring closure to the “CRISPR babies” scandal. The birth of three genome-edited babies was not just the work of three scientists, and there is still no agreed-upon, ethically sound reason to pursue using this technology for reproduction.
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Chinese Bioethicists: He Jiankui’s Crime is More than Illegal Medical Practice
Ruipeng Lei and Renzong Qiu, The Hastings Center Bioethics Forum | 01.04.2020
It is ridiculous that the He Jiankui incident has been reduced to a case of illegal medical practice. But the violations of administrative regulations and ethical norms that He and his accomplices committed constitute no other crime in China.
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Buyer Beware: A Maryland Surrogacy Agency Was Scamming Vulnerable Hopeful Parents
Ellen Trachman, Above the Law | 01.08.2020
The Surrogacy Group promised its clients services like matching intended parents with gestational surrogates, assisting clients with the surrogacy process, and managing funds. In many cases, however, the group’s owner pocketed the money, leaving both surrogates and intended parents high and dry.
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