Watch on YouTube here
Embryo selection is one of the most interesting technologies out there. If you could choose your kid’s height, would you? What about intelligence? Or more saliently, the risk of key diseases that your kid might be predisposed to? And how do we even know the tech is real?
I discuss all this and more with Jonathan Anomaly, whose company Herasight is imputing polygenic risk scores for embryos based on fairly accessible inputs.
The quagmire of ethical and scientific questions all this presents, I think, is ultimately tractable and offers reason for optimism.
00:00 - From Academia to Herasight
07:12 - Is Embryo Selection Controversial
11:31 - Polygenic Scores Explained
21:14 - Why Insurance Hasn’t Covered It
28:18 - Who Uses Screening and Why
32:35 - IVF Limits and Future Tech
36:52 - Selection vs Editing and Gattaca Fears
42:07 - Ethical Boundaries
43:01 - Breakthrough Imputation Proof
48:49 - Winning Clinics Over
51:18 - Ethics Backlash Explained
55:28 - Preference Cascade Theory
59:19 - Blank Slate Debate
01:03:09 - Pleiotropy Tradeoffs
01:08:29 - Autism Risk Predictor
01:13:37 - Repro Tech And Birth Rates
01:20:17 - Relationships And Family Futures
01:24:25 -Books And Optimistic Wrap
