US startups reportedly offer opportunities for wealthy couples Screening embryos Ethical concerns have been raised about IQ and other preferred genetic traits.
Heliospect Genomics tests 100 embryos by charging up to $50,000, claiming that couples experiencing IVF can choose children with an IQ score. The Guardian reports.
The company has already worked with more than a dozen couples, revealing masked video footage reviewed by the outlet.
“Everyone can have every child they want, and basically have a sickly-free, smart, healthy child. That’s going to be great,” CEO Michael Christensen said in a November 2023 video call. The call was documented by undercover investigators for Hope Not Hate, an anti-fascist group that works to “expose and oppose extreme extremism.”
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Microscopic views of Cryo solutions during embryo preparation at Brigham & Women’s Hospital IVF lab. (David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
By phone, Heliospect employees are reportedly walking their future parents through experimental genetic selection techniques advertised by the company. According to the Guardian, we explained how couples can rank up to 100 embryos using polygenic scoring, based on their IQ and another naughty trait that everyone wants, including gender, height, risk of obesity and risk of mental illness.
Heliospect says its prediction tool uses data from UK Biobank, a publicly funded gene reservoir with 500,000 UK volunteers. The database allows approved researchers and scientists around the world to access “health-related research in the public interest.”
British Law Although it prohibits parents from selecting embryos based on their predicted high IQ, this practice is currently legal, even if the technique is not yet commercially available.
Expert geneticists and bioethicists told the Guardian that the prospect of selecting embryos for their preferred genetic traits is ethically questionable, as they can reinforce the idea of ”good” and “undermined” genetics. I hope I don’t dislike it It furthered its own reporting, bringing a handful of them to people and publications who allegedly promoted so-called scientific racism, or those and publications who argued for the contested belief that races had essentially different levels of physical, intellectual and moral development determined by genetics.
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US startup Heliospect Genomics claims it can help parents screen embryos to predict higher intelligence and other desirable genetic traits. (istock)
Katie Husson, Associate Director of the Center Genetics And California’s society warned the Guardian in a comment that embryonic selection technology could become mainstream “the belief that inequality comes from biology, not social causes.”
Heliospect Genomics did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Heliospect manager told the Guardian, the US-based company operates within all applicable laws and regulations. The company said it is currently in “stealth mode” and is developing its services before the planned release begins. They added that the couple who screened fewer embryos were charged about $4,000 for service.
In a call recorded by Hope Not Hate, the Heliospect team explained how its “polygenic scoring” service uses algorithms to analyze genetic data given by parents to predict specific characteristics of individual embryos. According to the Guardian, the company does not offer IVF services.
Christensen presented an ambitious vision of how technology develops, and “lab-grown eggs suggest that couples can create embryos on an industrial scale (thousands, even millions),” the report said.
According to the Guardian, he suggested that future technology may be able to screen for personality types, including “dark triad” traits, namely Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychosis.
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Blood samples taken from volunteers are ready to be stored in the UK biobank in Manchester, England on April 17, 2007. (Christopher Farlong/Getty Images)
“Beauty is something that many people actually ask,” he reportedly.
Heliospect informed the Guardian that it does not tolerate industrial-scale egg and embryo production or elite selection and does not intend to provide personality screening services.
Among the senior Heliospect staff is Jonathan Anomaly, a controversial scholar who has made what is called advocate.”Liberal eugenics“or the idea that parents should use genetic technology to enhance their child’s outlook.
As a professor of philosophy, Anomaly published a provocative article aimed at inspiring discussion, telling the Guardian that “liberal eugenics” is an accepted term by bioethicists.
Records show that Heliospect accessed data from Biobank in the UK in June 2023. In its application, the company said it plans to use sophisticated techniques to improve predictions of “complex characteristics.” However, Heliospect did not disclose screening embryos as intended commercial applications or mention IQ, the Guardian reported.
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Uk Biobank said Autolet Heliospect is using data usage. “It matches the conditions of access perfectly,” he said.
Experts have suggested to the Guardian that there may be a need to strengthen restrictions on access to databases like the UK’s Biobank in light of ethical concerns regarding embryo screening.
“The UK biobank and the UK government may want to work harder on whether new restrictions need to be imposed,” said Professor Hank Greeley, a bioethicist at Stanford University.
Heliospect emphasized that the use of UK biobank data is legal and complies with relevant regulations. The company told the Guardian it supported addressing concerns about screening embryos before implantation, through public education, policy debate and well-informed discussions about technology, and strongly believed it could help people.
