Center for Genetics and Society
Encyclopedia
The Center for Genetics and Society (CGS) is a nonprofit information and public affairs organization, based in Berkeley, California
, United States
. It encourages responsible use and promotes the regulation of new human genetic and reproductive technologies, to confine them to what it considers responsible uses. CGS provides analysis and educational materials
in addition to organizing conferences, workshops, and briefings. It is particularly critical of proposals for full-term human cloning
and germline
genetic modification
— uses of technology that it considers socially irresponsible.
CGS is a pro-choice
organization, and positions itself as politically progressive
, although its positions on some issues are similar to those of traditionally conservative groups. Its key areas of concern include: stem cell research, preimplantation genetic diagnosis
, race-based medicines, egg retrieval
, designer babies, human cloning
, sex selection
, and genetic modification of humans
.
The executive director of CGS is Richard Hayes
.
, medicine
, women's health
, environmental justice
, and human rights
. This initial phase, conducted as a project of the Public Media Center in San Francisco, involved raising awareness of leaders in science, medicine, and civil society of these technologies’ potential impact, and the case for regulating them.
CGS formally began operations in October 2001. A primary focus has been to alert civil society constituencies to the challenges posed by the new human genetic technologies and assist them in building their capacity to engage in the discussions and debates about appropriate regulation. CGS has also lobbied governments during the process of policy formulation. It was involved in the early stages of the United Nations
effort to propose an international treaty prohibiting human reproductive cloning. It has been particularly active in the stem cell research debate in California
, where it has played a lead role in holding the state’s new $3 billion stem cell research program
accountable to what it sees as the public interest.
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It encourages responsible use and promotes the regulation of new human genetic and reproductive technologies, to confine them to what it considers responsible uses. CGS provides analysis and educational materials
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
in addition to organizing conferences, workshops, and briefings. It is particularly critical of proposals for full-term human cloning
Human cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
and germline
Germline
In biology and genetics, the germline of a mature or developing individual is the line of germ cells that have genetic material that may be passed to a child.For example, gametes such as the sperm or the egg, are part of the germline...
genetic modification
Human genetic engineering
Human genetic engineering is the alteration of an individual's genotype with the aim of choosing the phenotype of a newborn or changing the existing phenotype of a child or adult....
— uses of technology that it considers socially irresponsible.
CGS is a pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
organization, and positions itself as politically progressive
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
, although its positions on some issues are similar to those of traditionally conservative groups. Its key areas of concern include: stem cell research, preimplantation genetic diagnosis
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis
In medicine and genetics pre-implantation genetic diagnosis refers to procedures that are performed on embryos prior to implantation, sometimes even on oocytes prior to fertilization. PGD is considered another way to prenatal diagnosis...
, race-based medicines, egg retrieval
Egg donor
Egg donation is the process by which a woman provides one or several eggs for purposes of assisted reproduction or biomedical research. For assisted reproduction purposes, egg donation involves the process of in vitro fertilization as the eggs are fertilized in the laboratory. After the eggs...
, designer babies, human cloning
Human cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
, sex selection
Sex selection
Sex selection is the attempt to control the sex of the offspring to achieve a desired sex. It can be accomplished in several ways, both pre- and post-implantation of an embryo, as well as at birth...
, and genetic modification of humans
Human genetic engineering
Human genetic engineering is the alteration of an individual's genotype with the aim of choosing the phenotype of a newborn or changing the existing phenotype of a child or adult....
.
The executive director of CGS is Richard Hayes
Richard Hayes (biotech policy advocate)
Richard Hayes is Executive Director of the Berkeley, California-based Center for Genetics and Society. He was previously Executive Director of the San Francisco Democratic Party, and Associate Political Director and then National Director of Volunteer Development for the Sierra Club...
.
History
CGS was founded to advocate for social oversight and control of the new human biotechnologies. It grew out of a series of conversations and collaborations with key leaders in scienceScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, women's health
Women's health
Women's health refers to health issues specific to human female anatomy. These often relate to structures such as female genitalia and breasts or to conditions caused by hormones specific to, or most notable in, females. Women's health issues include menstruation, contraception, maternal health,...
, environmental justice
Environmental justice
Environmental justice is "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." In the words of Bunyan Bryant,...
, and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. This initial phase, conducted as a project of the Public Media Center in San Francisco, involved raising awareness of leaders in science, medicine, and civil society of these technologies’ potential impact, and the case for regulating them.
CGS formally began operations in October 2001. A primary focus has been to alert civil society constituencies to the challenges posed by the new human genetic technologies and assist them in building their capacity to engage in the discussions and debates about appropriate regulation. CGS has also lobbied governments during the process of policy formulation. It was involved in the early stages of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
effort to propose an international treaty prohibiting human reproductive cloning. It has been particularly active in the stem cell research debate in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it has played a lead role in holding the state’s new $3 billion stem cell research program
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was created by California's Proposition 71 , which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. It is claimed to be the world's largest single backer of...
accountable to what it sees as the public interest.
External links
- Center for Genetics and Society
- Biopolitical Times, the blog of the Center