Regulation & Bioethics
Justices wary of bold action on gene patenting
The following is an excerpt. WASHINGTON — In a lively hearing Monday, the Supreme Court struggled to find a narrow ...
Italy should look to science before deregulating stem-cell therapies
It is wrong to exploit the desperation of the disabled and the terminally ill and to raise false hopes of ...
SCOTUS leans against patents on human genes
US Supreme Court justices will not issue a decision until later this year — probably near the end of June ...
Genetic counseling and the customer service model of healthcare
The following is an edited excerpt. Genetic counselors wake up every morning and go to work because we are driven ...
Who should own DNA? All of us
The following is an excerpt. [The] case coming before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday challenging two patents is a different animal, ...
US supreme court to decide if companies can patent human genes
The following is an excerpt. The US supreme court will hear oral arguments next week to decide whether companies can patent human ...
Confusion reigns on genes, race, and Alzheimer’s
The following is an excerpt. Wildly divergent headlines about a study of Alzheimer’s disease vividly illustrate the depth and breadth ...
Kyoto: Researchers suspected of fabricating stem cell report, skipping animal tests
The following is an excerpt. A team of researchers from the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine are currently under fire ...
Supremes debate human gene patents, but are they too late?
The Supreme Court is poised to take up the highly charged question of whether human genes can be patented. But ...
IVF pioneer Robert Edwards dies at age 87
Robert Edwards, whose pioneering in vitro fertilization research led to the first test tube baby and has since brought millions ...
New regulations pending for unproven veterinary stem cell treatments
New guidance from the FDA could soon rein in veterinary uses of stem cells, a practice that has exploded in ...
Myriad Genetics patent would harm society
The following is an excerpt. Myriad argues that they should be allowed to patent the gene because they were the ...
Gene pool rules: The ethics of human evolutionary engineering
The following is an excerpt. For thousands of years, humans have used genetic engineering to control the evolution of plants ...
Tough calls on prenatal tests
The following is an excerpt. New prenatal blood tests for genetic abnormalities such as Down syndrome are reshaping care for ...
Attack of the killer tomatoes
The following is an excerpt. GMOs can be engineered to do lots of great things, such as better withstand climate ...
How to genetically engineer humans, safely
In a post for Project Syndicate, biomedical ethics professor Maxwell Mehlman outlines the challenges of safely genetically engineering humans. Among ...
Should human genes be patented?
As the cost of genome sequencing plummets, we move closer to an era of personalized medicine, in which an individual’s ...
U.S. criticizes ‘unnecessary’ EU rules on genetically modified crops
The following is an edited excerpt. The United States on Monday criticized “unnecessary” European Union rules against genetically modified US ...
Your DNA in death: Reflections on the Henrietta Lacks bioethics controversy
We are in the early stages a personalized medicine revolution, but progress comes with growing pains -- in this case, ...
Monsanto Protection Act? Separating the facts from the fury
The so-called "Monsanto Protection Act" is hardly the “most dangerous food act ever” or a “terrifying piece of policy," as ...
Storm erupts over publishing of HeLa genome
The following is an excerpt. One of the world's most prestigious laboratories is frantically trying to resolve a row over ...
The dawn of genome trolling
The following is an excerpt. Last week European scientists were shamed into cutting off public access to a genome sequence ...
Italy: Stem-cell cocktail given green light
The following is an excerpt. A combination of patient-derived stem cells, which have no publication record of efficacy, can now ...
Personal genomics: No choice for you
The following is an excerpt. The American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) has recently published recommendations for reporting incidental findings (IFs) in clinical exome ...
Supreme court may decide whether we own our genes
The following is an excerpt. They may be responsible for everything in your life, from conception to death, they may ...
Privacy flap forces withdrawal of DNA data on cancer cell line
The following is an excerpt. On 11 March, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) issued a press release proudly announcing ...
Scientists published Henrietta Lacks’ genome without the consent of her family
The following is an excerpt. In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a poor black mother of five living near Baltimore, died from ...