Key Highlights
- Couples undergoing IVF in the UK are exploiting an apparent legal loophole to rank their embryos based on genetic predictions of IQ, height and health, the Guardian has learned. The controversial screening technique, which scores embryos based on their DNA, is not permitted at UK fertility clinics and critics have raised scientific and ethical objections, saying the method is unproven.
- But under data protection laws, patients can – and in some cases have – demanded their embryos’ raw genetic data and sent it abroad for analysis in an effort to have smarter, healthier children. Dr Cristina Hickman, a senior embryologist and founder of Avenues fertility clinic in London, said rapid advances in embryo screening techniques and the recent launch of several US companies offering so-called polygenic screening had left clinics facing “legal and ethical confusion”.“This opens a whole can of worms,” said Hickman, who raised the issue in a letter last month to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). One US company, Herasight, which charges couples $50,000 (£37,000) to assess an unlimited number of embryos, confirmed that it had already worked with couples undergoing IVF at clinics in the UK.
- There is no suggestion Herasight is in breach of any regulations. Avenues currently has two patients who – without the clinic’s involvement – intend to use Herasight’s service.
- One, a 29-year-old woman, said she and her husband hoped to reduce the risk of diseases, such as diabetes, and to pick embryos with high predicted IQ.“People are willing to spend loads of money and heartache to give their kids slightly better lives after they’re born,” said the patient, who wished to remain anonymous.
- “This seems the best bang for your buck; it’s less per year than private school.”Herasight claims to deliver an average gain of six IQ points for a couple with five embryos and provides sex, predicted height and risk scores for conditions including heart disease, common cancers, Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia.
