Viewpoint: Sociogenomics—Challenging the ethics of IQ-based gene selection

[A] US start-up that offers eugenic embryo selection. Heliospect Genomics aims to enable wealthy couples to select the “most intelligent” embryos for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) using the latest genomic technology: so-called polygenic (risk) scores (PGS). However, experts strongly doubt the validity of predictions based on these scores and criticize them as ethically questionable.

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Called sociogenomics, social science genetics, and social or behavioral genomics, this field recycles a well-worn claim with a new scientific-technological basis: namely, to be able to precisely calculate the heredity of all possible social characteristics. This includes behaviors such as intelligence, educational attainment, addiction behavior, divorce, church attendance and more.

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Katie Hasson, associate director of the Center for Genetics and Society in California, warns that selling PGS-based tests “normalizes this idea of ‘superior’ and ‘inferior’ genetics.” The sociogenomic claims of predicting social and psychological characteristics of babies, children, and adults using genome analyses not only revive a form of genetic determinism but also risk reinforcing the stigmatization of those deemed “genetically inferior.”

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