DNA analysis shows that prehistoric people treated disabled children with respect
In ancient cultures some children were born with Down syndrome and other genetic disorders. But our prehistoric forebears treated them with great respect. This is...
FDA approves first gene-editing therapy
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel), the first cell-based gene-editing therapy to utilise the CRISPR/Cas9 system (CRISPR) in history, to treat transfusion-dependent...
Do we have a right not to die a lonely death?
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people died alone, without the comfort of having their loved ones at their bedside. Policies varied from institution to institution...
Australian woman freed after 20 years after new genetic evidence raised ‘reasonable doubt’
An Australian woman who spent 20 years in jail for murdering her four infant children has been pardoned on the basis of new genetic evidence....
You shed DNA everywhere you go – trace samples in the water, sand and air are enough to identify who you are, raising ethical questions about privacy
Human DNA can be sequenced from small amounts of water, sand and air in the environment to potentially extract identifiable information like genetic lineage, gender,...
China’s revised regulation on human genome editing: the good news and the bad news
Remember the scandalous revelation of the world's first births of genome-modified twins (Lulu and Nana) by Dr He Jiankui in 2018? Recently, China revised its regulation...
Third global summit on human genome editing: Moving on after the He experiment
The much anticipated Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing was held in London earlier this month to explore the advances of the science, challenges...
Permitting IVF polygenic testing is a slippery slope to genome editing in hyper-competitive Asian societies like Singapore
The Asia-Pacific region has seen rapid economic growth over the past few decades, fueled in large part by hyper-competitive social norms and Confucian values of...
Is genome editing back on scientists’ agenda?
A three-day summit is taking place in London this week to discuss human genome editing. This is the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing....
Stop designer babes, says international coalition
A number of groups from around the world have joined forces to create an International Coalition to Stop Designer Babies. They are lobbying against human...
Nature sceptical of polygenic embryo tests
The world’s leading science journal, Nature, is taking a very dim view of genetic tests which promise consumers a reduced risk of certain diseases if...
Is human germline editing compatible with human dignity?
Human germline editing, whether it is for health reasons or for the more ambitious project of Transhumanism, is intensely controversial. International bioethics agreements ban or...