Originally broadcast on Against the Grain, KPFA 94.1 FM Wedensday, June 12, 2013 Download program audio (mp3, 48.38 Mbytes) Worried about genetically modified organisms, and GM food? Well, a number of scientists are pursuing the genetic modification of humans, altering DNA sequences that will be passed along to future generations. According to Stuart Newman, inheritable genetic engineering is deeply problematic; he argues that its proponents misunderstand the nature of living things and the process of [More]
Human Genetics

By Pete Shanks and Marcy Darnovsky Originally published on Biopolitical Times The Supreme Court’s June 13, 2013 unanimous ruling against Myriad Genetics is a triumph for common sense and the common good, and for scientific research and legal fundamentals as well. The decision means that all of the existing patents on human genes – some 15,000 of them – are no longer valid. It affirms a century of legal precedent that prohibits patents on “products [More]

by Pete Shanks Originally published on Biopolitical Times The unanimous Supreme Court decision [pdf] (June 13, 2013) that human genes may not be patented was greeted with unbridled enthusiasm by the large coalition of plaintiffs and supporters. Early reactions concurred that the decision is indeed a momentous one. The Center for Genetics and Society response is here. For background, the amicus brief that CGS and allies filed with the US District Court in 2009 is [More]
Video: Genetically Modified Humans, Stuart Newman and Milton Reynolds

Stuart Newman, PhD in conversation with Milton Reynolds: June 6, Patent Pending – The Rise of Genetically Modified Humans EAST BAY CONVERSATIONS The Promises and Perils of Biotechnology Stuart Newman, PhD in conversation with Milton Reynolds of Facing History and Ourselves. Thursday, June 6, 2013, 7: 30 pm Brower Center’s Goldman Theater (2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, California) Free and Open to the Public.

On June 6, join Milton Reynolds of Facing History and Ourselves in conversation with Stuart Newman as they consider some of the social justice and ethical challenges associated with these developments. In 1997, New York Medical College cell biologist Stuart Newman applied for a patent on what he called a “humanzee” — part human, part chimp — to call attention to the social and ethical hazards of biotech patenting and human genetic modification. The Patent [More]
The Alliance for Human Biotechnology (AHB) is organizing a letter-writing campaign to the California State Senate to oppose Assembly Bill 926 which authorizes paying young women to undergo egg harvesting to extract their eggs for bio-research. The procedure, which includes taking powerful hormones for weeks, has short term risks (including death) and long term risks that have not been adequately studied, making informed consent nothing but a sham. Previously, egg “donation” targeted college women with [More]
In advance of his conversation with Milton Reynolds at East Bay Conversations on June 6, 2013, Stuart Newman shares selected articles he has written over the past 10 years on human genetics and synthetic biology. Stuart Newman received an A.B. from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Chicago. He has been a visiting professor at the Pasteur Institute, Paris, the Centre à l’Energie Atomique-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, the Indian Institute of [More]