In a narrow ruling June 3, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the DNA swabbing of people arrested in connection with serious crimes is legal. The Maryland attorney general praised DNA swabbing as the 21st-century equivalent of fingerprinting and said it would help solve crimes. No doubt. Bu... [More]

  Not so long ago, people who provided DNA in the course of research studies were told that their privacy was assured. Their DNA sequences were on publicly available Web sites, yes, but they did not include names or other obvious identifiers. These were research databases, scientists said,... [More]

Almost immediately after the Supreme Court ruled that human genes could not be patented, several laboratories announced they, too, would begin offering genetic testing for breast cancer risk, making it likely that that test and others could become more affordable and more widely available. ... [More]

Slowly, and largely under the radar, a growing number of local law enforcement agencies across the country have moved into what had previously been the domain of the F.B.I. and state crime labs — amassing their own DNA databases of potential suspects, some collected with the donors’ ... [More]

Gov. Bobby Jindal is considering whether to sign into law SB 162, which sets regulations for gestational surrogacy in Louisiana.   It is a complex and emotional issue and a difficult decision. We urge him to consider all sides of the question before deciding. On one side are childless ... [More]

Today the Supreme Court issued a resounding no to the question of whether human genes can be patented.  In a unanimous decision the Court held that “a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated…the portion ... [More]

Latest version of law to create DNA database criticised for having provisions that violate human rights of innocent persons WHILE the latest version of a law to create a DNA database has been welcomed as an improvement on the 2009 version, it has been criticised for having provisions that v... [More]

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that companies cannot patent parts of naturally-occurring human genes, a decision with the potential to profoundly affect the emerging and lucrative medical and biotechnology industries. The high court’s unanimous judgment reverses three decades of paten... [More]

Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers. The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically m... [More]

Authors usually like it when the Supreme Court cites their work. But a reference to a book in an opinion last week is drawing mixed reviews. The case, Maryland v. King, was about whether the authorities may take DNA samples from people arrested in connection with serious crimes. Justice Anth... [More]