from Hacker News

US startup charging couples to 'screen embryos for IQ'

by caust1c on 10/18/24, 2:51 PM with 46 comments

  • by renewiltord on 10/18/24, 4:29 PM

    My embryos were one of the early participants in this startup (at a vastly higher sum haha). My wife lets me try out some of these things for a laugh. In our case, our ethnic backgrounds did not lend themselves well to their program (you’ve got to be well represented in the UK Biobank). But it was good fun.

    Ultimately, we’ve still got to feed these children and teach them and raise them to adulthood and I look forward to doing that. It’s nice to have selected from the higher end of the bell curve available to the combination of my wife’s and my DNA.

    My genome is public and my parents and siblings have theirs too. My hope is that eventually my genetic group will be so available that the data processing will be readily available to all.

    In the future, one could imagine my descendants being myopia-free because the ones who were chosen were so. I look forward to the future of humanity.

  • by Vecr on 10/18/24, 4:25 PM

    I'm not sure how well incentivized these organizations are to correctly use the GWAS data vs just appear to do something and then take your money.

    Assortive mating and then maybe screening for stuff like Tay-Sachs and autism would for sure be cheaper (assuming there's not backlash against those screenings too...)

  • by mensetmanusman on 10/18/24, 6:44 PM

    High iq people aren’t smart enough to reproduce, so this might not work out in the long run.

  • by WorldPeas on 10/18/24, 7:58 PM

    Reminds me of the idiocracy intro. All people think about is getting more, until they can no longer have it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwZ0ZUy7P3E

  • by bgrainger on 10/18/24, 9:59 PM

    > [Dr. Jonathan] Anomaly is a well-known figure in a growing transatlantic movement that promotes development of genetic selection and enhancement tools.

    Nominative determinism is real.

  • by more_corn on 10/18/24, 5:32 PM

    Gataca was a cautionary tale, not an instruction manual.