Maybe she was born with her, maybe it’s… genetic optimization?
Future parents using in vitro fertilization (IVF) will soon be able to choose embryos based on their potential disease risk – including diseases that develop later in life – thanks to a basic $ 5,999 service notified this week by a US Biotech company.
“Before there is a heartbeat, there is DNA,” said Kian Sadeghi, founder and chief executive of Nucleus Genomics, in a statement. “A file containing DNA and genetic marker can tell you more about the future of your baby than any other test a doctor can work at this stage.”
What is IVF?
Popular treatment of fertility involves removing eggs from a woman’s ovaries and fertilizing them with semen in a laboratory.
The resulting embryo – which can be frozen or fresh – placed in the uterus, where we hope that implants on the uterine wall and ignite a pregnancy.
Before implantation, many IVF clinics already screen embryos for genetic abnormalities – such as additional chromosomes or gene mutations – that can lead to failed implantations, abortions, birth defects or inherited disorders.
But the first service of its kind by Nucleus Genomics takes things a step further.
A child
The company just launched the Nucleus Embryo, a new software platform that allows potential parents to dig deep into the full genetic plane of their embryos before choosing which to implant.
The tool allows IVF patients to compare DNA to up to 20 embryos, examining them for more than 900 conditions – including Alzheimeria, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer.
It doesn’t stop here.
The program also flags possible mental health conditions such as depression and schizophrenia and even lists cognitive traits such as IQ.
Parents can also take a look at the cosmetic and physical features, from height, bald and BMI to eye and hair color.
The company is not promising perfection.
On the contrary, software generates a so -called result of polygenic risk that will give parents the possibility of being likely to be an embryo it can develop certain traits or diseases.
After all, it depends on the parents to decide which qualities the most important to them. For those seeking to decipher the results, genetic counseling sessions are available.
“Life expectancy has increased dramatically in the last 150 years,” Sadeghi told Wall Street Journal. “Testing DNA to predict and reduce chronic illness can make it happen again.”
A new era of reproductive technology
The practice, known as a polygenic examination of the embryo, is already highly controversial in the medical world, according to a report published by the Petrie-Flom Center of Harvard Law School.
Critics warn that allowing parents to control embryos for risks such as depression or diabetes can deepen stigma and discrimination against people living with those conditions.
Meanwhile, disability lawyers argue that it promotes the harmful idea that disability is something to be fixed, not a natural part of human diversity.
And when it comes to choosing embryos for traits such as intelligence or athlete, critics say we are slipping into the territory of the designer’s baby – a modern form of eugenics that favor wealthy, social strengthening and health care.
However, the public seems open to some aspects of technology.
A 2023 study found that 77% of Americans support it using it to control embryos for the possibility of developing certain physical conditions, while 72% back examination for mental health risks.
Proponents argue that it is no different from vaccination – a preventive tool, not a judgment for those with condition.
But when it comes to non-medical features, support drops quickly: only 36% backbone embryos for behavioral features and only 30% for physical features such as height or eye color.
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Image Source : nypost.com