Polygenic embryo selection outpaces US regulation
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- Martschenko and Trejo's book What We Inherit warns that polygenic embryo selection is slipping past regulators while gene editing faces heavy scrutiny at the "front gate"
- The two authors spent 10 years in an "adversarial collaboration" — Martschenko argues genetic research has historically entrenched inequality, while Trejo argues more data is better than less
- Polygenic scores are probabilistic, not deterministic, and become less accurate for non-European populations because most genetic studies rely on European samples
- Genomic Prediction began offering embryo scores in 2020 for diabetes, skin cancer, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, intellectual disability, and "idiopathic short stature" — the company stopped advertising the last two as "too controversial"
- Herasight now claims to offer embryo selection based on intelligence, and the more traits parents select for, the less accurate each prediction becomes
- The theoretical maximum polygenic score for height would yield just a 2.5-inch difference — and that maximum has never been observed, even in European studies
- Polygenic embryo selection is illegal in the UK, Israel, and much of Europe; the FDA signaled possible regulation in 2024, but companies currently fall under the same nonmedical category as nutritional supplements
Why it matters: Because the US treats polygenic embryo screening like a vitamin, wealthy prospective parents — disproportionately of European ancestry, the only group with reasonably accurate baseline data — can access trait-based embryo selection while others cannot, a gap the authors say could create a new form of inherited genetic caste that compounds existing social inequalities.
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