Maybe she is born with her, maybe she is … Genetic optimization?
Future parents who use in vitro fertilization (IVF) will be able to select embryos based on their potential risk of diseases, including diseases later in life, thanks to an innovative $ 5,999 service announced this week by a North -American Biotechnology company.
“Before, there is a heartbeat, there is DNA,” Kian Sadeghi, founder and CEO of Genomics, said in a statement. “A file containing DNA and genetic markers can tell you more about your baby’s future than any other proof that a doctor can run in this phase.”
What is IViv?
The popular treatment of fertility is to eliminate the eggs from a woman’s ovaries and fertilize them with sperm in a laboratory.
The resulting embryo, which can be frozen or fresh, is placed in the uterus, where we hope it is implanted on the uterine wall and causes a pregnancy.
Prior to implantation, many IVF clinics already select embryos for genetic abnormalities, such as additional chromosomes or gene mutations, which can lead to failed implantations, abortions, birth defects or inherited disorders.
But the first service of the genomic of the nucleus of the nucleus takes another step.
Build-a-Baby
The company has just launched Embryo nucleus, a new software platform that allows potential parents to dig deeper into the full genetic model of their embryos before choosing which one to implant.
The tool allows Patients with IGIV to compare DNA of up to 20 embryos, screening them for more than 900 conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and various forms of cancer.
He does not stop here.
The program also indicates possible mental health conditions such as depression and schizophrenia and even occupies cognitive features such as IQ.
Parents can also take a look at cosmetic and physical characteristics, from height, baldness and BMI to the color of the eyes and hair.
The company is not the promising perfection.
Instead, software generates a so -called polygenic risk score that will give parents the likelihood of the likelihood that it is an embryo can develop certain traits or diseases.
Ultimately, it is up to parents to decide which qualities are most important. For those who seek to decode the results, there are genetic advice sessions.
“Lifespan has increased significantly over the last 150 years,” Sadeghi said to the Wall Street Journal. “DNA tests to predict and reduce chronic illness can make it a reality.”
A new age of reproductive technology
The practice, known as a screening of polygenic embryos, is already very 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 project embryos for risks such as depression or diabetes could deepen stigma and discrimination against people living under these conditions.
Disability proponents, meanwhile, argue that it promotes the harmful idea that disability is something that must be solved, not a natural part of human diversity.
And when choosing embryos for traits such as intelligence or athletics, critics say that we are slipping into the territory of the designer baby, a modern form of eugenics that favors richness, strengthening social and health inequalities.
However, the public seems open to some aspects of technology.
A 2023 survey found that 77% of North -Americans support their use to select embryos for the likelihood of developing certain physical conditions, while 72% of subsequent screening for mental health risks.
Defenders argue that it is no different from vaccination: a preventive tool, not a judgment on those who have the condition.
But when it comes to non -medical traits, the support goes down quickly: only 36% of back screening for behavioral traits and only 30% for physical characteristics such as the height or color of the eyes.
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Image Source : nypost.com