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Genetic Justice from Start to Summit
Join CGS for a two-part virtual symposium that will challenge the failure to center social justice and human rights voices and perspectives at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing. We’ll bring together feminist, disability rights, reproductive rights and justice, racial justice, environmental, and human rights advocates and scholars for a discussion of heritable genome editing. Feb 27 (9-10:30am PST) and Feb 28 (9-11am PST). Register today!
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Summit Counter-events in London
Several organizations in addition to CGS will be hosting events meant to broaden the perspectives on gene editing beyond those featured at the Summit. Stop Designer Babies is organizing a teach-in on March 4, in person and online, featuring perspectives from black/anti-racist, disability rights, working class, feminist, parents and human rights movements. (More details to come.) On March 3–4, the Centre of Bioethics and Emerging Technologies at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham will host an international conference on heritable genome editing and equality in partnership with the Scottish Council for Human Bioethics.
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The transhumanist philosopher, Silicon Valley money, and lab-made gametes
Jennifer Denbow, Guest Contributor, Biopolitical Times | 02.09.2023
Nick Bostrom’s racist email is no surprise given his central role in the toxic stew of longtermism, transhumanism, and eugenics. The embrace of these ideas among wealthy effective altruists investing heavily in emerging reprogenetic technologies needs scrutiny and critique.
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Techno-eugenics: Two Books and a Movie, Reviewed
Pete Shanks, Biopolitical Times | 02.02.2023
Two books and a documentary on the prospect of heritable human gene editing begin their discussion with the case of He Jiankui. Whether they focus specifically on He or tackle broader questions about the future of society, all consider the grave societal risks of allowing heritable genome editing.
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GENE EDITING | GENOMICS | EUGENICS
ASSISTED REPRODUCTION | VARIOUS
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A Dilemma for Governments: How to Pay for Million-Dollar Therapies
Rebecca Robbins and Stephanie Nolen, The New York Times | 01.24.2023
With sales of its gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy slowing in richer countries, pharmaceutical giant Novartis is pushing for coverage in middle-income countries, where public health systems are often fragile and underfunded.
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Intellectual property and assisted reproductive technology
David Cyranoski, Jorge L. Contreras, and Victoria T. Carrington, Nature Biotechnology | 01.18.2023
Scientists and biotech startups are racing to patent their research into in vitro gametogenesis. IVG would enable production of hundreds of embryos that could be genetically characterized, ranked, or altered. Will it be marketed and used to select for––or to engineer––"desirable" traits?
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The human genome needs updating. But how do we make it fair?
Ida Emilie Steinmark, The Guardian | 01.29.2023
Since its publication in 2003, the reference genome has revolutionized genome sequencing. But the code meant to represent the human species contributes to the Eurocentric bias of much of genomics: it’s mostly based on just one man from Buffalo, New York.
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World’s largest body of human geneticists apologizes for eugenics role
Sydney Trent, The Washington Post | 01.24.2023
The American Society of Human Genetics’ new report examines its own complicity in the eugenics movement and pseudoscientific racism. It recognizes the need for further efforts to denounce and oppose racist misuses of genetics research.
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The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Ghost of Margaret Sanger
Melinda Cooper, Dissent | 01.25.2023
Religious conservatives are framing their efforts to ban abortion and establish legal recognition of fetal personhood as “anti-eugenics.” Much of the feminist left is ill-equipped to deal with this threat.
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Autism research at the crossroads
Brady Huggett, Spectrum News | 01.25.2023
Autistic self-advocates sound the alarm as advances in autism research threaten to repeat the eugenic mistakes of the past. But some researchers find that these efforts only partially represent the concerns of the diverse neurodiverse population.
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Japan court orders gov't to pay damages over forced sterilization
Kyodo News | 01.23.2023
The Japanese government will provide about 22 million yen ($170,000) in compensation to two people sterilized under a Japanese eugenics law that authorized the sterilization of 25,000 people with intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses or hereditary disorders.
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Eugenics Was Wrong Even When It Got It Right
Maren Linett, Nursing Clio | 01.17.2023
Many contemporary popular and academic writers fail to attack the ableism at the heart of eugenics. This approach––criticizing eugenics for everything except its ableism––reproduces eugenic evaluations of fitness and of human value.
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China Needs Couples to Have More Babies: Can I.V.F. Help?
Alexandra Stevenson and Zixu Wang, The New York Times | 01.22.2023
The Chinese government has promised to cover some of the cost of IVF under national medical insurance, one of more than a dozen policy measures enacted in response to anxiety about China’s declining fertility rate.
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Now is the Moment for a Systemic Reset of AI and Technology Governance
Anja Kaspersen and Wendell Wallach, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs | 01.24.2023
AI could bring health benefits, but it’s increasingly used to exacerbate existing forms of inequity. How can we ensure that the technologies currently being developed are used for the common good, rather than for the benefit of a select few?
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What Do We Owe Lab Animals?
Brandon Keim, The New York Times | 01.23.2023
The standard ethical guidelines encourage minimizing the use of animals in research and the harm done to them. Some experts propose an additional courtesy: repayment.
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