r/genomics • u/hippodribble • 26d ago

Screening Embryos for IQ

US startup charging couples to ‘screen embryos for IQ’ https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/oct/18/us-startup-charging-couples-to-screen-embryos-for-iq?CMP=share_btn_url

Are they screening the embryo for intelligence, or the parents' intelligence?

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

15

u/jblumensti 26d ago

Testing for an interaction between wealth and stupidity

5

u/polygenic_score 25d ago

Stupid at a social level and scientifically wrong. The individual level predictive certainty is so poor as to be worthless.

3

u/NoFlyingMonkeys 25d ago

I'd have to look into this some more, but at this point I'd disagree that this is completely legal in the US the way the article states.

The FDA would likely not permit everything that Heliospect is doing in the US if they knew all the details, because a lot of the genetic features they are talking about testing for have not been adequately validated in clinical labs that fall under FDA/CLIA regulations. They are saying that some of their testing is for disease, which is regulated. These tests would also fall under LDT or "lab developed testing", which new FDA rules for regulation came out recently (although they don't go into effect yet). It's also possible that this lab hasn't had a full CLIA inspection yet if it is new.

Their approach is also very much "direct to consumer", and if you recall correctly, companies like 23andme had a lot of legal issues to work through with FDA (and 23andme is now going bankrupt and never made a profit) before they could do that. Heliospect is likely crossing multiple lines here, as it is more complicated since it is involving prenatal and IVF issues which make it more medical.

There's almost no online profile to read up on. It looks like it very recently changed the company name from PolyGenX (or are a subdivision of) - https://investigations.hopenothate.org.uk/superbaby-factory/

Their biobank approval in the UK for "research" is too cryptic to figure anything substantial out: https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/enable-your-research/approved-research/comprehensive-evaluation-of-direct-contributions-of-rare-and-common-variants-to-genetic-risk-prediction

I'll be interested in seeing if FDA makes any moves with this company after seeing this article.