[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.
Follow the latest news and policy debates on sustainable agriculture, biomedicine, and other ‘disruptive’ innovations. Subscribe to our newsletter.
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.
…
Share this article
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.”
