Genetics testing startup Nucleus Genomics criticized for its embryo product: ‘Makes me so nauseous’

Summary

Nucleus Genomics, a genetic testing startup founded by 25-year-old Kian Sadeghi, initially launched in 2021 with the goal of calculating a patient’s risk for specific diseases. But it’s been courting controversy for years with products that claim to tell people how their genetics correlate to a host of complex issues, including their IQ. On Wednesday, it ratcheted up the controversy to an ear-splitting level when it announced a new product called Nucleus Embryo with a tweet that said: “Every parent wants to give their children more than they had. For the first time in human history, Nucleus adds a new tool to that commitment.” Nucleus says it can test IVF embryos not just for well-known specific genes that have a high chance of illnesses like breast cancer, but also for appearance — sex, height, hair color, eye color — as well as IQ and complex health attributes like anxiety and ADHD. The launch video includes a screen shot of a comparison menu. The idea is to help parents choose which embryos to pick and which ones to, perhaps, discard. Nucleus Genomics embryos features screenImage Credits:Nucleus Genomics (opens in a new window) Genetic testing of embryos isn’t unheard of. IVF physicians can test for genes that can cause conditions like Down syndrome, or when parents know they are of high risk for a particular genetic disorder, like cystic fibrosis. But that’s not exactly what Nucleus is doing. It is using controversial “polygenic scores” to determine “complex genetic outcomes, like intelligence and anxiety,” a spokesperson says. According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, polygenic scores only calculate the probabilities of a certain complex illness occurring, mainly within populations. “A polygenic risk score can only explain the relative risk for a disease,” the NHGR says. This is not the same as discovering a specific gene, such as for example the BRCA1 gene mutation, which gives a person a 60-80% “absolute risk of breast cancer,” the NHGR says....