A new American company is reportedly offering wealthy couples the opportunity to have their embryos examined for IQ and other favorable genetic traits, which has raised ethical concerns.
Heliospect Genomics is charging up to $50,000 to test 100 embryos and claims its technology can help couples undergoing IVF choose children with IQ scores six points higher or more than naturally conceived babies. The guardian reports.
The company has already worked with more than a dozen couples, an undercover video reviewed by the outlet reveals.
“Everyone can have as many children as they want, and they can have children who are basically disease-free, intelligent, and healthy; It’s going to be fantastic,” CEO Michael Christensen said in a video call in November 2023, according to the report. The call was recorded by an undercover investigator for Hope Not Hate, an anti-fascist group that works to “expose and oppose far-right extremism.”
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A microscopic view of a cryogenic solution during embryo preparation in the IVF laboratory at Brigham & Girls's Hospital. (David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Pictures)
On the call, Heliospect employees reportedly guide prospective parents through the experimental genetic selection techniques promoted by the company. One employee explained how couples could use polygenic scoring to rank up to 100 embryos based on “IQ and other naughty traits that everyone wants,” including sex, height, risk of obesity, and risk of mental illness. , according to The Guardian.
Heliospect says its prediction tools use data from the UK Biobank, a publicly funded gene repository staffed by half a million British volunteers. The database allows approved researchers and scientists from around the world to access it for “health-related research that is of public interest.”
UK law prohibits parents from selecting embryos based on a high predicted IQ, but the practice is currently legal in the United States, even if the technology is not yet commercially available.
Expert geneticists and bioethicists told The Guardian that the prospect of selecting embryos for favorable genetic traits is ethically questionable, as it could reinforce the idea of “superior” and “inferior” genetics. I Hope I Don't Hate went further in its own reporting, linking a handful of Heliospect employees to people and publications that have allegedly promoted so-called scientific racism, or the controversial belief that human races have innately different levels of physical, intellectual, and intellectual development. and ethical determined by their 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 Hasson, associate director of the Center for Genetics and Society in California, warned in comments to The Guardian that embryo selection technology could generalize “the belief that inequality comes from biology rather than social causes.”
Heliospect Genomics did not immediately respond to Fox Information Digital's request for comment.
Heliospect officials told The Guardian that the US-based company operates within the confines of all applicable laws and regulations. The company said it is currently in “stealth mode” and is still developing its services ahead of a planned public launch. They added that couples who examined fewer embryos were charged about $4,000 for the service.
In calls recorded by Hope Not Hate, the Heliospect team described how its “polygenic scoring” service uses algorithms to analyze genetic data provided by parents to predict the specific traits of their individual embryos. The company does not offer IVF services, according to The Guardian.
Christensen laid out an ambitious vision for how the technology could develop, even suggesting that “lab-grown eggs would allow couples to create embryos on an industrial scale – a thousand, or even a million – from which an elite selection could be hand-selected.” ”he explained. the report said.
According to The Guardian, he suggested that future technology could detect personality types, including what he called “dark triad” traits, i.e. Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy.
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Blood samples taken from volunteers are labeled and ready to be stored at the UK Biobank on April 17, 2007, in Manchester, England. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Pictures)
“Beauty is something that a lot of people ask about,” she reportedly added.
Heliospect told The Guardian that it does not condone industrial-scale egg or embryo production or elite selection and does not plan to offer personality analysis services.
Among Heliospect's senior staff is Jonathan Anomaly, a controversial academic who has championed so-called “liberal eugenics,” or the idea that parents should use genetic technology to improve the prospects of their children.
Anomaly told The Guardian that, as a philosophy professor, he had published provocative articles intended to stimulate debate and that “liberal eugenics” was an accepted term by bioethicists.
Records show Heliospect gained access to UK Biobank data in June 2023. In its application, the company said it planned to use advanced techniques to improve prediction of “complex traits.” But Heliospect did not disclose embryo screening as an intended commercial application nor did it mention IQ, The Guardian reported.
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UK Biobank told the outlet that Heliospect's use of its data appeared to be “entirely consistent with our access conditions.”
Experts suggested to The Guardian that restrictions on access to databases such as UK Biobank may need to be tightened in light of ethical concerns around embryo screening.
“The UK Biobank and the UK government may want to think more seriously about whether some new restrictions need to be imposed,” said Professor Hank Greely, a bioethicist at Stanford University.
Heliospect emphasized that its use of UK Biobank data is legal and complies with relevant regulations. The company told The Guardian that it supports addressing concerns about preimplantation embryonic screening through public education, policy discussions and appropriately informed debates about the technology, which it strongly believed had the potential to help people.
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