loike

As artificial life forms become more sophisticated, we propose a simple list of criteria to determine whether synthetic biological organisms and robots are living beings.

Uncertainties about the cells’ risk profiles and the potential for hyping unproven therapies mean scientists and the media must tread carefully.

A newly expanded genetic alphabet that includes four synthetic nucleotides highlights the need for strict boundaries on their use.

2018 closed with hubbub surrounding the purported birth of babies whose genomes had been edited using CRISPR. What will 2019 hold for CRISPR’s use in humans?

The recent discovery of 17 people who have inherited maternal and paternal lines of mitochondrial DNA has major ramifications for medical and ancestry research.

Despite a premature and ethically sketchy claim of genome editing in twin girls, an outright prohibition could blunt promising, responsible progress.

Newly developed techniques could propel a field already advancing rapidly to complement modern medicine.

Data don’t support many direct-to-consumer products, from telomere assessments to bespoke diets based on genetic sequences.

The use of pronuclear transfer to treat infertility must first be backed by evidence it can work in cases where parents seek to avoid mitochondrial mutations.

Determining which products of advanced biotechnology are deserving of legal protections is essential to our own social architecture.