each embryo. It's pretty common. The more new and controversial testing is called polygenic testing. Okay. And that is something that tests for very complex conditions that are influenced by thousands of genes. So
looking for the authenticity and the original thing. Most genes are polygenic .
Now, it might matter. And that's a polygenic score.
Now, it might matter. study to create polygenic scores for kids in my TEDS project-- the twins project.
That, broadly speaking, is going to be more accurate than psychiatric conditions, which these polygenic tests tend to not perform as well on. These are conditions that are, you know, influenced by multiple genes. So, it's not like you turn on this one gene,
Like, would this only be available to rich people? So, right now polygenic testing is not cheap. One company, for example, Orchid, it charges $2,500 per screened embryo.
But what's interesting about that is this has implications for what's called planetary protection, which means we have to look and trace as best we can, is there any molecules that we're And this is because it's based on something called polygenic risk scores.
But what's interesting about that is this has implications for what's called planetary protection, which means we have to look and trace as best we can, is there any molecules that we're But the problem with that is that the polygenic risk scores can be very biased.
Now, it might matter. The end of the book has the world's first polygenic profile for psychological traits, and it's for me.
Now, it might matter. And what they're not doing yet is these polygenic scores, but that's the big thing now.
argue that parents have a moral obligation to create children with chance of the best life. And you see this argument echoed in the founders of some of these polygenic testing companies. So for example, Noor Siddiqui, who heads up the company Orchid, one of the polygenic testing companies, she talks a lot about like
Now, it might matter. A new company came up this week that's trying to sell polygenic scores.
or genetically relatively simple traits, like hair color and eye color. But we are moving into a world where we are going to use something called polygenic scoring to be able to make predictions of complex diseases, disorders, and traits. And that's going to move health care from this world of precision very quickly into a world of prediction.
Hm. What What did people think about the advice you gave? Did you hear from any readers? So, there are a lot of people in my Twitter orbit who are very like into polygenic testing. So, they have argued with me a bunch. But, I also got a really touching email from a mother of a
We still, though, haven't got a full artificial heart. So if you have some mutations in the heart, but you have another thing called a polygenic -risk score.
Now, it might matter. Alcoholism? You know, it's not that good a polygenic score, but you cannot become alcoholic unless you drink a lot of alcohol for a long time.
Says she's going to do it. So we've taken our roughly 4,000 clients now, we've created polygenic risk profiles of their likelihood to have Alzheimer's.
Yeah, absolutely. And that's actually my concern about the longer term, especially. So, technologies do tend to get cheaper as they mature. So, it is conceivable that in 10, 20 years, you know, we'll have a way to do this kind of polygenic screening that is not 2,500 bucks a pop.
exists, you know, in terms of let's say conditions like Down syndrome, which are screened for so commonly now. And you know, that's really ethically questionable because even if we come to a place where we feel confident that for you as an individual, polygenic screening is going to lead to a better outcome for your individual kid, we still have to look at on the population
And you see this argument echoed in the founders of some of these polygenic testing companies. So for example, Noor Siddiqui, who heads up the company Orchid, one of the polygenic testing companies, she talks a lot about like protecting your kids from various health conditions, talking about some kind of health problem down the line. She'll
But what's interesting about that is this has implications for what's called planetary protection, which means we have to look and trace as best we can, is there any molecules that we're So for example, if you look at the ancestry, whether you're Asian or look at Caucasian ancestry or at British ancestry, your polygenic risk score
Now, it might matter. And these other companies with one push of a button, you upload them, and then they give you these polygenic scores.