A US startup is reportedly offering wealthy couples the chance to test their unborn children for IQ and other favorable genetic traits, raising ethical concerns.
Heliospect Genomics charges up to $50,000 to test 100 embryos, and its technology shows that couples undergoing IVF have IQ scores more than six points higher than babies conceived naturally. It claims to help choose children. The Guardian newspaper reports.
Undercover video footage reviewed by the media revealed that the company has already worked with more than a dozen couples.
According to the report, CEO Michael Christensen said in a video call in November 2023 that “everyone can have all the children they want, basically disease-free, smart, healthy.” “I can give birth to a beautiful child. That's a wonderful thing.” The call was recorded by an undercover researcher from Hope Not Hate, an anti-fascist group that works to “expose and counter far-right extremism.”
Designer babies may be 'morally' acceptable, says UK Ethics Committee
Photomicrograph of freezing solution during embryo preparation in the in vitro fertilization laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital. (David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Heliospect employees reportedly spoke over the phone to explain to prospective parents about the company's experimental genetic selection technology. According to the Guardian, one employee said couples could use polygenic scoring based on “IQ and other naughty traits that everyone wants,” including gender, height, risk of obesity and risk of mental illness. explained how to rank up to 100 embryos.
Heliospect says its predictive tool uses data from the UK Biobank, a publicly funded genetic repository involving 500,000 British volunteers. The database allows approved researchers and scientists from around the world to access the database for “health-related research in the public interest.”
British law prohibits parents from selecting embryos based on predicted high IQ, but this practice is currently prohibited in the United States, even though the technology is not yet commercially available. It's legal.
Expert geneticists and bioethicists told the Guardian that selecting embryos with favorable genetic traits could reinforce the idea of ”good” and “poor” genetics. He said it was ethically questionable. hope instead of hatred goes further in its own report, labeling a small number of Heliospect's employees as being subject to so-called scientific racism, meaning that humans are born with different levels of physical, intellectual, and moral development determined by genetics. It has been linked to people and publications that have allegedly promoted controversial beliefs such as:
President Trump promises to guarantee IVF treatment
US-based startup Heliospect Genomics claims it can help parents screen embryos to predict high intelligence and other desirable genetic traits. (St. Petersburg)
Katie Hasson, Deputy Director of the Center genetics and the California Society warned in comments to the Guardian that embryo selection technology could mainstream “the belief that inequality has biological rather than social causes.”
Heliospect Genomics did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Heliospect managers told the Guardian that the US-based company operates within all applicable laws and regulations. The company said it is currently in “stealth mode” and developing the service ahead of its planned public launch. They added that couples who had fewer embryos screened were charged about $4,000 in service fees.
In a call recorded by Hope Not Hate, Heliospect's team explained that the company's “polygenic scoring” service uses algorithms to analyze genetic data provided by parents to predict specific traits in individual embryos. I explained how to do it. According to the Guardian, the company does not offer in vitro fertilization services.
Christensen laid out an ambitious vision for how the technology could develop, saying: “Using lab-grown eggs, couples could produce 1,000 or even 1 million embryos on an industrial scale. He even suggested, “It will be possible for a select elite to choose from among them.'' said the report.
According to the Guardian, he suggested that future technology could allow people to screen for personality types, including what he called the “dark triad” traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy.
AI babies: New technology is helping fertility doctors choose the best embryos for IVF
Blood samples taken from volunteers were labeled and ready for storage at the UK Biobank in Manchester, UK, on April 17, 2007. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
“Beauty is actually something that a lot of people ask about,” he reportedly added.
Heliospect told the Guardian that it does not condone the production or elite selection of eggs or embryos on an industrial scale, and has no plans to offer personality testing services.
Among Heliospect's senior staff is Jonathan Anomaly, a controversial academic who has defended the so-calledliberal eugenics”, or the idea that parents should use genetic technology to improve their children's prospects.
Anomaly told the Guardian that as a philosophy professor he has published provocative articles aimed at stimulating debate, and that “liberal eugenics” is a term accepted by bioethicists. .
Records show Heliospect gained access to UK Biobank data in June 2023. In its filing, the company said it plans to use advanced technology to improve predictions of “complex traits.” However, Heliospect did not mention commercial embryo screening or IQ, the Guardian reported.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
UK Biobank told the media that Heliospect's use of its data appeared to be “fully consistent with our access terms”.
Experts suggested to the Guardian that restrictions on access to databases such as the UK Biobank may need to be tightened, given ethical concerns about screening embryos.
Professor Hank Greeley, a bioethicist at Stanford University, said: “The UK Biobank and the UK government may want to think more seriously about whether they need to impose any new restrictions.”
Heliospect stressed that its use of UK Biobank data is legal and complies with relevant regulations. The company told the Guardian that it strongly believes that this technology has the potential to help people and that concerns about pre-implantation embryo screening should be addressed through public education, policy debate and an informed discussion of the technology. He said he supports doing so.
