A genetics startup founded by scientists Tobias Wolfram and Alex Strudwick Young has left stealth mode, with Futurism reporting that Herasight claims its embryo screening platform can forecast a baby's intelligence and the likelihood of developing 17 diseases.
Herasight's launch was announced by Young in a post on X, where he said the company's predictors for 17 diseases had been validated within families and outperformed competitors, including for non-European genetic backgrounds.
The announcement included a screenshot of Herasight's interactive embryo widget, which allows users to select traits such as intelligence, glaucoma, melanoma, or gout, input parental ancestry and family IQ averages, and calculate a projected range for an embryo's future IQ. The tool also allows prospective parents to enter the number of embryos, from three to 20, to see potential variations in predicted outcomes.
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Scientific Validation And Ethical Questions Surround Herasight's Embryo IQ Screening Claims
Futurism says that in the U.S., embryo screening for traits like IQ is legal, although countries such as the U.K. prohibit the practice. Many scientists remain skeptical, pointing to a lack of conclusive evidence that genetic screening can accurately predict complex traits like intelligence or height.
Despite this uncertainty, Herasight's founders emphasize scientific rigor. The company says it validates its genetic predictors within families, a step it claims most rivals skip, to distinguish direct genetic effects from population-level variables.
On its website, Herasight says it aims to make genetic insights "accessible to everyone" and integrates family medical history into its risk assessments to improve prediction accuracy. The platform also claims to test for performance across diverse ancestries to ensure results are reliable for non-European populations.
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Herasight says its approach is grounded in scientific integrity, prioritizing research over marketing to ensure accuracy in its genetic testing methods. The company states that this commitment includes continuously improving variant calling and imputation and pursuing higher R-squared values to strengthen predictive performance.
Comparisons to Elon Musk–Linked IVF Platforms
Herasight enters a competitive space that includes Orchid, a platform reportedly used by billionaire Elon Musk to screen embryos, and Nucleus Genomics, which offers subscription-based in-vitro fertilization genetic services.
In its white paper, Herasight differentiates itself from what it describes as "state-of-the-art" disease screening that lacks within-family validation.
The paper also acknowledges "bioethical concerns" surrounding embryo screening, including the potential for increasing inequality if such services are accessible only to certain socioeconomic groups.
"Despite these methodological concerns, comprehensive validations of state-of-the-art disease PGS remain scarce. Existing studies seldom systematically benchmark PGS across multiple ancestries, and none employ within-family validation strategies to distinguish direct genetic effects from population-level confounding," the paper reads.
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Futurism says that while there is no scientific consensus that traits such as intelligence can be precisely adjusted through genetic screening, the concept has drawn comparisons to eugenics.
Ethical Questions Remain
Critics argue that using genetic screening to influence traits like intelligence risks reviving eugenics-era thinking, regardless of scientific safeguards. While Herasight stresses responsible research, Futurism says its public communications have not directly addressed the deeper ethical implications of selectively choosing embryos based on cognitive potential.
The company is currently inviting genetic counselors, researchers, physicians, and prospective parents to participate in workshops and provide feedback on its technology. For some, the possibility of predicting a child's cognitive potential before birth is viewed as an advance in reproductive science, while others see it as a move toward engineered humanity.
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