A plan to let farmers grow genetically modified crops developed by Monsanto during legal appeals has drawn criticism from food-safety advocates and backers of open government over how the proposal became law.   The measure, tucked into a bill to fund the federal government through S... [More]

Fertility clinics that help conduct surrogacy are all set to come under the scanner, with the state setting up a 10-member committee to study issues related to it. Such centres would also be brought under the ambit of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act, T C Benjamin... [More]

It's a hoary bureaucratic trick, making a controversial announcement on the Friday afternoon before a long weekend, when most people are daydreaming about what beer to buy on the way home from work, or are checking movie times online. But that's precisely what the US Department of Agriculture ... [More]

A role for professionals in direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests seemed like a forgone conclusion from an FDA hearing held two weeks ago, considering the agency first weighed in on the issue last spring. In May 2010, Walgreens backtracked from plans it announced two days earlier to sell a sa... [More]

Certain types of genetic tests that are available for at-home use without a prescription should not be used without the involvement of a physician or genetic specialist, an FDA advisory panel recommended. So-called direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests can provide information ranging from a ... [More]

Members of a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel convened to consider new government regulation of genetic testing offered directly to consumers said Tuesday that such testing should only be allowed under a doctor's supervision. Personal testing, which is mainly available online from comp... [More]

The president’s bioethics commission says there is no need to temporarily halt research or to impose new regulations on the controversial new field known as synthetic biology. In a report being issued Thursday, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues says that at... [More]

The beady eye of DNA regulators needs to fall on paternity testing THE genetics revolution has progressed at breakneck speed since the discovery of the structure of DNA and regulators have often struggled to keep up. It has been a few years since the "personal genomics" industry took off, an... [More]

A Congressional committee opened an investigation of three direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies this week. The House’s Committee on Energy and Commerce sent requests to the CEOs of 23andme, Navigenics and Pathway Genomics for a wide array of information about the companies&rsq... [More]