In 2011, experiments that allowed the potentially deadly H5N1 flu virus to spread between mammals ignited intense discussions about whether such research should be done at all, much less published. But most of the debate occurred after the research had been carried out. Kenneth Oye, a social scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, thinks that the discussion…
There was a time when parents of newborns were perfectly content to know only a few basic things about their babies: their height, their weight, their apgar score, and which side of the family should get the credit for making the kid so adorable. But a graduate student at the University of California, Davis named Razib Khan wanted to know…
Courts may soon face the challenge of determining whether genetics can be linked to criminal behavior. The “my genes made me do it” defense is not solely reserved for Law and Order SVU. At least, not for long. As science continues to tell us more and more about genetics, geneticists and medical ethicists believe it’s only a matter of time…
In November 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered the company 23andMe to stop offering its direct-to-consumer DNA testing service, which provided individuals with $99 assessments of their genetic risk for almost 200 disorders. Experts now examines whether this move by FDA is a violation of the First Amendment, or a necessary step to protect consumers. 23andMe seemingly…
As Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan questioned Myriad Genetics’ attorney about patenting genes, Chris Hansen rejoiced. The attorney said that yes, genes should be patentable. But it was only under the pressure of further questions that he said that chromosomes, too, should be patentable, and — more reluctantly still — organs such as kidneys. “It was all I could do…
ISG faculty Dr. Stefan Timmermans describes how “giving parents a torrent of information about a child’s genetic disease risk will profoundly change the experience of bringing a new life into the world”. He writes, “Opening up newborn screening for genetics has mostly been viewed as an issue of technological capacity: Is the technology sufficiently fast and reliable to make…