From Vox · Jonquilyn Hill · · 2m
The dark side of optimizing fertility
Genetic screening of embryos promises healthier babies but raises questions about eugenics and how far technology should go.
In brief
Genetic screening of embryos promises healthier babies but raises questions about eugenics and how far technology should go. Fertility companies are marketing genetic screening to select embryos for health, appearance and traits like IQ, raising ethical concerns about eugenics that mainstream medicine largely opposes…
Quick answers
- What is PGT-P screening?
- PGT-P, or preimplantation genetic testing for polygenic risk, uses genetic screening during IVF to look for likelihood of complex conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
- What is the key takeaway from The dark side of optimizing fertility?
- Fertility companies are marketing genetic screening to select embryos for health, appearance and traits like IQ, raising ethical concerns about eugenics that mainstream medicine largely opposes.
Optimization reaches reproduction
People now use genetic screening to optimize fertility and select embryos, extending the culture of self-improvement into how we have children.
What is PGT-P screening?
PGT-P, or preimplantation genetic testing for polygenic risk, uses genetic screening during IVF to look for likelihood of complex conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
Beyond disease into aesthetics
Companies marketing these tests now promise to screen for height, eye color, IQ, Alzheimer's disease and longevity, moving beyond disease into aesthetic concerns.
The problem with complex traits
Heart disease is affected by hundreds of genes plus environment and lifestyle. How do you define intelligence, let alone its genetics? The science is far more complicated than marketing suggests.
Still a small practice
Very few people currently use PGT-P screening, but more companies are entering the space and fertility doctors are increasingly supportive of the technology.
Medical mainstream opposes it
Most mainstream medical societies, most IVF doctors and most geneticists do not think this technology has value, though support is growing among fertility professionals.
Embryo editing remains illegal
Embryo editing is illegal in the United States and most countries. Safety cannot be confirmed until an edited embryo grows into an adult.
The Gattaca stack vision
Tech executive Brian Armstrong coined the term Gattaca stack, named after the movie, to describe using multiple fertility technologies to create the perfect human.
How the Gattaca stack works
In vitro gametogenesis turns skin cells into eggs and sperm to create many embryos. PGT-P screens for the best ones. Artificial wombs would incubate them.
Screening against Down syndrome
Even without IVF, we screen against Down syndrome in early pregnancy. Parents of children with Down syndrome have long argued this is a form of eugenics.
The genome is too complicated
You cannot simply select for a tall baby with blue eyes and a great laugh. The genome is complicated and human reproduction has too many variables to fully control.
“I want a tall baby with blue eyes and a great laugh.”
Parenthood means giving up control
Becoming a parent is an exercise in giving up control. Technology will never fully control human reproduction, no matter how appealing that idea sounds.
“becoming a parent is an exercise in giving up control”
The one thing
Fertility companies are marketing genetic screening to select embryos for health, appearance and traits like IQ, raising ethical concerns about eugenics that mainstream medicine largely opposes.
