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By Isabel van Brugen
News Reporter
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A U.S.-based biotech company has unveiled a new in vitro fertilization (IVF) option that allows parents to select embryos based on genetic markers tied to health and longevity.
DNA testing and analysis company Nucleus Genomics has announced the world's first genetic optimization software that "helps parents pursuing IVF see and understand the complete genetic profile of each of their embryos."
Why It Matters
The company says it can analyze the genetic makeup of embryos to test for up to 900 conditions including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. By choosing embryos with the lowest risk profiles, parents can theoretically boost their children's chances of living longer and healthier lives. But the practice also raises ethical concerns about choosing embryos based on probabilities.
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"Nucleus Embryo is the first-ever genetic optimization software that helps parents give their children the best possible start in life—long before they're even born," the company said on X, formerly Twitter.
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What To Know
Prospective parents can upload up to 20 embryo DNA files from their IVF clinics for over 900 genetic analyses spanning cancers, chronic conditions, appearance, cognitive ability, mental health, and other conditions.
The company then provides clients with a detailed report, which shows their embryo's results.
"Sort, compare, and choose your embryos based on what matters most to you," Nucleus Genomics said.
Demo pictures of the process provided by the company shows that the tests will also reveal what eye color and hair color the child is likely to have.
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It tests for markers for common conditions like type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and high blood pressure, and genetic contributions to various cancers (e.g., breast, colorectal, ovarian).
It also covers mental health risks, such as depression and anxiety disorders, as well as physical traits like eye color, hair color, height, BMI, and even IQ-related markers. The test offers a comprehensive genetic profile, allowing prospective parents to compare multiple embryos on these different attributes before choosing one for implantation.
"Life span has dramatically increased in the last 150 years," Kian Sadeghi, the company's founder and chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal. "DNA testing to predict and reduce chronic disease can make it happen again."
The 25-year-old told the Journal he sees no distinction between individuals using DNA tests to understand their own risks and those screening and ranking embryos to select one likely to live a longer life.
"It is the same underlying motivation," Sadeghi said. "It is about living a longer, healthier life."
"The longevity movement is about taking medicine back and putting it in the people's hands," Sadeghi added. "Why would that not apply now to the most intimate, personal, emotional, sensitive decision you will make? Picking your baby."
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What People Are Saying
Nucleus said on its website announcing Nucleus Embryo: "My parents are immigrants from Iran who came to America with nothing but a conviction that me and my siblings would have more. But when my 15-year-old cousin suddenly died in her sleep from a preventable genetic disease, my family was powerless to save her.
"My parents, grieving the loss of my cousin, were also terrified. What if my siblings and I were at the same risk? That was the first time I understood what generational health meant.
"Our users don't just do Nucleus for themselves—they do it for themselves and their loved ones. Now, I'm proud to say that care can start before a child is even born."
Other users on social media questioned the ethics of the technology. One thread, viewed more than 3 million times, said, "Holy s***. It's happening…you don't just pick a child. You rank them by longevity potential."
Emma Waters, a policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, responded to tweets about the project. "'I only wanted you because you were a girl and the right kind of healthy. I destroyed the other 19 human embryos that your father and I created.'
"Don't worry, it's 'not eugenics,' it's only science."
Asked for her definition of eugenics, she said, "The selection or rejection of a living human being based on certain traits or conditions. I.e., choosing which embryos live and which ones are destroyed based on factors like health, sex, and IQ."
What Happens Next
Polygenic embryo screening is largely unregulated in the U.S., and it is likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
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