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March 26, 2013 Henrietta Lacks' family was never consulted before her genetic information was made public. Author Rebecca Skloot, who chronicled the story of her cells, says current regulations aren't covering the privacy questions that come up for people like the Lacks family.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

December 6, 2012 Researchers found a surprising number of mutations, including several associated with disease, in the genes of normal healthy people. Their study raises questions about whether widespread genetic sequencing could end up scaring people for no good reason.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

December 3, 2012 Technology now exists that makes it possible for doctors to decipher the entire genetic code of a newborn. Should it be done? What about fetuses in the womb? That's now a possibility, and it's stirring intense debate.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

October 24, 2012 Scientists have made changes in human DNA that can be passed down from one generation to the next. The researchers say they took the step to try to prevent women from giving birth to babies with genetic diseases. But the research is raising a host of social and moral questions.

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September 26, 2012 Scientists have partially decoded the genetic sequence of a new virus, which has killed one man and hospitalized another. Advances in sequencing technologies have helped health workers rapidly respond to the virus in ways that they couldn't during the SARS epidemic of 2002.

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September 18, 2012 The cost of deciphering a person's genetic code has dropped faster than the price of flat-screen TVs. But some experts are concerned that access to genomic information could stoke fears and invade privacy.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

September 5, 2012 For decades, scientists thought that most of our genetic code was essentially useless filler between our genes. But the results of a massive project to understand this so-called junk DNA reveal that it contains switches that control how genes function.

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August 20, 2012 For a few hundred dollars and a vial of spit, a growing number of companies will search your DNA to try to predict your disease risks. One of them hopes to mine their data to find out which genes are linked to Parkinson's disease.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

July 9, 2012 Entrepreneurs are just one part of the organic machine that is Silicon Valley. Replicating the Valley's success isn't possible without bringing all of the pieces together in a symbiotic system.

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August 16, 2011 While we will never have molecular fossils that can tell us exactly what did four billion or so years ago, our progress in molecular biology is now allowing us to see what likely could have happened

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January 4, 2011 Cornelius  Dupree Jr., 51, was exonerated this morning in a Dallas courtroom. Only two other people in the U.S. have been in prison longer and then been cleared by DNA evidence.

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