US starts charging couples to ‘screen embryos for IQ’

An American start-up company is offering to help wealthy couples test embryos for IQ using controversial technology that raises questions about the ethics of genetic enhancement.

The company, Heliospect Genomics, has worked with more than a dozen couples undergoing IVF, according to the hidden video. Records show the company is advertising its services for up to $50,000 (£38,000) for customers who want to test 100 embryos, and says it has helped other parents choose future children from follow the genes of intelligence. Executives boasted their methods could produce gains of more than six IQ points.

Experts say the development represents a moral minefield.

The news emerged from video recordings made by the campaign group Hope Not Hate, which went undercover to investigate various groups of activists and academics. The Guardian reviewed the records and carried out further investigations along with Hope Not Hate.

The images appear to show genetic selection experiments being marketed to prospective parents. A Heliospect employee, who has been helping the company recruit clients, explained how couples can place 100 embryos based on “IQ and other negative traits that everyone wants”. , including sex, height, risk of obesity and risk of mental illness.

The startup says its predictive tools are built using data provided by the UK Biobank, a taxpayer-funded store of genetic material donated by half a million British volunteers, which is willing to share data only for “public interest” projects.

Selecting embryos on the basis of a predicted high IQ is not permitted under UK law. Although legal in the US, where the study of embryology is loosely regulated, IQ testing is not yet commercially available there.

Asked for comment, Heliospect executives said the company, which is incorporated in the US, operates in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. They said Heliospect was in “stealth mode” ahead of the planned public launch and was still developing its service. They also said that customers who checked a few eggs were charged $4,000, and that starting prices would be in line with competitors.

Leading geneticists and bioethicists said the project raised many ethical and medical issues.

Dagan Wells, professor of reproductive genetics at Oxford University, asked: “Is this test too far, do we really want it?” I feel like this is a debate that the community hasn’t had a chance to fully engage in at this point. ”

Katie Hasson, deputy director of the Center for Genetics and Society in California, said: “One of the biggest problems is that it makes this idea of ​​’high’ and ‘low’ genetics. be in good shape.” The dissemination of such science, he said, “reinforces the belief that inequality comes from biological rather than social causes”.

‘It’s disease-free, it’s smart, it’s healthy’

For Michael Christensen, Danish CEO of Heliospect and former stock market trader, genetic selection promises a bright future. “Everyone can have all the children they want and they can have children who are actually disease-free, intelligent and healthy; it’s going to be fun,” he boasted during a video call in November 2023.

Listening to her voice was an undercover investigator from Hope Not Hate, posing as a UK professional looking to start a family. During several webinars, the team presented their “polygenic scoring” service. Heliospect does not offer IVF, but instead uses algorithms to analyze genetic information provided by parents to predict specific characteristics of their embryos.

The team gave a guided tour of their test site, which has yet to go live. During the presentation, they said that selecting the “smartest” 10 eggs would lead to an average IQ of more than six points, although other characteristics such as height and risk of obesity or acne could be prioritized based on the selection. of man.

Finally, Christensen thought, the arrival of eggs grown in the laboratory will allow couples to make fertilized eggs on an industrial scale – a thousand, or even a million – where the choice of the elite can be chosen.

In the future, he speculated, the offer could be expanded to include personality types, including giving details of what he called the “dark triad”. The dark triad usually refers to machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy. Christensen said it’s also possible to have multiple factors for stress and creativity. She added: “Beauty is something that many people ask about.

When asked for comment, Heliospect said that it will not allow the production of industrial eggs or the fetus or the selection of the elite and that it did not intend to provide a test for the characteristics or beauty of the “triad” dark”.

Among the firm’s senior staff is the expert Jonathan Anomaly, who has caused controversy after defending what he describes as “liberal eugenics”. A former Oxford University graduate who left an academic position in Ecuador last year to work full-time at Heliospect, Anomaly said he advised the company on media strategy and helped recruit American investors and customers. and Europe.

Anomaly is a prominent figure in a growing transatlantic movement promoting the development of genetic selection and enhancement tools, which he says should not be confused with government-sponsored forced eugenics. “Everything we say [liberal eugenics] it’s for parents to be free and maybe encouraged to use technology to improve their children’s opportunities once it’s available,” he told The Dissenter podcast.

Heliospect was granted access to UK Biobank data in June 2023. Set up in 2006 by the Department of Health and medical research organisations, the Biobank contains genetic information, brain scans, psychological tests and records of education and medical of 500,000 volunteers who signed up to share their health information. The anonymous data it shares has been credited with helping lead to treatments for cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

In its access process, Heliospect says it hopes to use advanced techniques to improve the prediction of “complex characteristics”. It did not disclose embryo testing as a proposed commercial use or refer to IQ. When contacted by the Guardian, the company said cognitive ability or intellectual disability falls within its scope of use.

UK Biobank said the use of Heliospect data appeared to be “fully in line with our access standards”.

In the UK, fertility treatments are strictly regulated, and experiments on embryos are legally listed as serious health conditions approved by regulators.

In one of the recordings, the Heliospect team appeared to suggest that it would be legally possible for UK couples to request genetic data for their future children that is randomly generated during testing. approved embryos and sending them overseas for testing. They also advised that the easiest option would be to travel to the US for IVF and said that they would follow the country’s regulations.

Towards the end of the year 2023, the founders of Heliospect said that they have analyzed and helped to select the embryos for five couples, which were later implanted through IVF. “There are babies on the way,” Christensen said.

In an interview, Heliospect said it specializes in genomic prediction tools through embryonic testing systems and adult trials and that its authorized access to UK Biobank data has been essential to the development of these products in a rigorous scientific manner. It said it did not want to circumvent UK regulations on embryo testing and that UK Biobank does not require companies to disclose legitimate commercial applications for research. It said it supports solving the problems of pre-embryonic diagnosis through public education, policy discussions, and informed discussions about technology, which it strongly believes can help. people.

When answering questions, Anomaly said that as a professor of philosophy, he published provocative articles intended to provoke debate and that “liberal eugenics” was accepted as a term in the field of bioethics.

The decision to grant access to Heliospect raises questions about the ethical standards used when granting research access to the UK Biobank. Its controls are under review following revelations in the Guardian on Thursday that a “racing science” research group said it had obtained its data.

Prof Hank Greely, a bioethicist at Stanford University, said: “The UK Biobank, and the UK government, may want to think hard about whether they need to impose new restrictions.”

In a statement, Professor Sir Rory Collins, chief executive of UK Biobank, said: “UK Biobank … has confirmed that its analyzes of our data are only used for their authorized purposes to generate genetic risk information for of certain conditions, and is evaluating their use for preimplantation testing in which Heliospect is based data is available, the UK Biobank is enabling discoveries that would otherwise be impossible, saving lives and preventing disability and suffering.”