We know DNA is a master key that unlocks medical and forensic secrets, but genetic testing is also impacting urgent social issues around race in America. DNA-based techniques are being used in a variety of ways, including to grapple with the unfinished business of slavery: to foster reconciliation, to establish ties with African ancestral homelands, to rethink and sometimes alter citizenship, and to make legal claims for slavery reparations specifically based on ancestry. Alondra Nelson joins...

Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. Not, that is, until the spring of 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the new gene-editing tool CRISPR — a revolutionary new technology that she helped create — to make heritable changes in human embryos. The cheapest, simplest, most effective way of manipulating DNA ever known, CRISPR may well give us the cure to HIV, genetic diseases,...

Within 20, maybe 40, years, most people in developed countries will stop having sex for the purpose of reproduction. Instead, prospective parents will be told as much as they wish to know about the genetic makeup of dozens of embryos, and they will pick one or two for implantation, gestation, and birth. And it will be safe, lawful, and free. Stanford’s Hank Greely joins science writer Carl Zimmer for a conversation about the revolutionary biological technologies that make this future a...

Dozens of genetic testing companies have cropped up over the last decade, promising to help consumers decipher everything from their risks of certain illnesses, their family trees, their wine preferences, and the diet most likely to help them shed a beer belly. As genetic testing becomes cheaper and more ubiquitous, what are the limitations and potential pitfalls to be aware of? How might insurers or employers use this information? Could we be on the cusp of mass genetic discrimination?...

We often take biology for granted, rarely recognizing the incredible technological feats of an organism as it grows, heals, and self-assembles—sustainably. As our ability to read, write, and design DNA grows, this power of biology is enabling amazing new biotechnologies to impact numerous industries, from everyday products brewed by designed microbes to programmable materials and living medicines. Biologist, writer, and artist Christina Agapakis explores the many unexpected connections...

Who are you? That question has become ever more complicated over the last decade of scientific discovery. Our genomes show signs of ancestry from Neanderthals and other extinct hominins, not to mention the genetic fossils of ancient viruses. Our bodies are home to trillions of bacteria and other microbes that sculpt our organs, train our immune systems, digest our food, and influence our minds. Our brains are made up of about 80 billion neurons in 100 trillion connections. Scientists are...

Should we ever intentionally drive a species to extinction? Most people probably agree with deadly diseases like smallpox and malaria, but what about the New World screwworm? Its very existence in the wild causes horrific suffering. Humans sometimes struggle to accept the fact that nature is amoral, because evolution doesn't care. Now, though, we have technologies that make it far easier to intervene than it ever has been, and we are faced with the choice of whether or not to use them. This a...

New genetic technologies have the potential to cure disease, alleviate hunger, and lead a clean energy revolution. But with these powerful new possibilities come with a range of consequences and ethical questions. Such questions might in theory be addressed in interdisciplinary, transparent settings. But the current system of scientific discovery encourages siloed work from small teams working in isolation (and often in competition) — an approach that can lead to duplication and waste, but...