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This is not science fiction. New technology allows parents to screen embryos for traits like high IQ, height and eye color to create \u201cgenetically-enhanced\u201d humans\u2014and companies are charging up to $50,000 for the service.<\/p>\n
Biotech startups like Herasight in North Carolina, Nucleus Genomics in New York and Orchid Health in California use polygenic risk scores to predict which embryos are most likely to produce tall, smart, healthy children. The technology analyzes genetic variants to estimate everything from Alzheimer\u2019s risk to propensity for baldness. \u201cWe help people have their best babies,\u201d Kian Sadeghi, founder of Nucleus Genomics told NPR<\/a>, calling it \u201cgenetic optimization.\u201d So far, the companies say they\u2019ve screened thousands of embryos for hundreds of prospective parents and already helped create dozens, possibly hundreds, of genetically-screened babies.<\/p>\n But medical experts are pushing back hard. \u201cI\u2019m very worried about the kind of dystopian world that this way of using technologies could lead to,\u201d says Katie Hasson, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society. \u201cIt\u2019s very troubling.\u201d The American College of Medical Genetics says the science isn\u2019t ready, and bioethicists worry about creating a society of superhumans.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n This is not science fiction. New technology allows parents to screen embryos for traits like high IQ, height and eye color to create \u201cgenetically-enhanced\u201d humans\u2014and companies are charging up to $50,000 for the service.<\/p>\n Biotech startups like Herasight in North Carolina, Nucleus Genomics in New York and Orchid Health in California use polygenic risk scores to predict which embryos are most likely to produce tall, smart, healthy children. The technology analyzes genetic variants to estimate everything from Alzheimer\u2019s risk to propensity for baldness. \u201cWe help people have their best babies,\u201d Kian Sadeghi, founder of Nucleus Genomics told NPR<\/a>, calling it \u201cgenetic optimization.\u201d So far, the companies say they\u2019ve screened thousands of embryos for hundreds of prospective parents and already helped create dozens, possibly hundreds, of genetically-screened babies.<\/p>\n But medical experts are pushing back hard. \u201cI\u2019m very worried about the kind of dystopian world that this way of using technologies could lead to,\u201d says Katie Hasson, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society. \u201cIt\u2019s very troubling.\u201d The American College of Medical Genetics says the science isn\u2019t ready, and bioethicists worry about creating a society of superhumans.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n