Controversial startup charging parents to screen embryos for higher IQ

A controversial company is charging parents-to-be $50,000 (£38,500) to screen their embryos for intelligence, an investigation has revealed.

PolygenX, a US-based startup, uses controversial genetic techniques to analyse embryos for traits like height and intelligence.

According to a report from Hope Not Hate, this 'Superbaby Factory' claims to help parents undergoing IVF to select embryos that will have the highest IQ.

The company counts prominent pro-natalists Malcolm and Simone Collins as clients and has even gained the support of the billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

Only accepting vetted clients from referrals, the company stealthily caters to the demand for 'designer babies' among the wealthiest parents.

However, PolygenX has come under fire for its dubious methods and troubling political affiliations.

The company's techniques, which are not legal in the UK, have been branded by critics as a form of eugenics - the belief that the human race can be improved by selective breeding.

Hope Not Hate's investigation further alleges that officials in the company have connections to various far-right and 'scientific racism' movements.

PolygenX was founded in 2022 in Sheridan, Wyoming, by Jonathan Anomaly, a former philosophy professor and frequent defender of eugenics.

The company claims to use a technique called preimplantation genetic testing for polygenic risk (PGT-P) to screen for traits ranging from intelligence and self-control to risk of obesity or ADHD.

This method analyses the genetic code of embryos to predict the probability that they will develop complex traits involving multiple genes.

In the UK using PGT-P can only be used to screen for anything other than life-threatening illnesses such as cystic fibrosis and it is not legal to use this method to screen for traits like intelligence, gender, or height.

However, in the US and other countries, the rules are far more relaxed and several companies have sprung up to offer PGT-P services.

But what makes PolygenX unique is that it specifically focuses on intelligence and IQ as a target for selection.

Tobias Wolfram, PolygenX's chief science officer, told undercover reporters that IQ screening was 'basically the starting point of the company'.

Over a year-long period, an undercover reporter for Hope Not Hate infiltrated the company by posing as a potential parent seeking IVF.

The reporter received their referral to the company from Simone Collins, a prominent pronatalist and advocate for selecting children based on their IQ.

How does PolygenX help parents select their embryo's IQ?

In the UK using genetic screening to select for IQ or height is not legal.

Customers travel to a country with looser laws and receive normal IVF treatment.

The couple's sperm and eggs are combined and the embryos are frozen.

The parents send the embryo's genetic data to PolygenX which predicts which might have the highest IQ.

The couple then return to the IVF clinic and request that specific embryo to be implanted.

During a meeting, Ms Collins showed a PolygenX website on which her frozen embryos' intelligence was ranked on a bell curve.

In a video of the meeting, Ms Collins explains how she is planning on selecting one of the embryos with the highest IQ to be implanted.

During meetings with company executives, PolygenX also explained the steps their customers take to get their designer babies.

First, a British parent would need to approach an IVF clinic in a country with less strict regulation, such as the US.

They then undergo normal IVF treatment which involves combining sperm and eggs before freezing the resulting embryos.

The parent would then request the genetic data of these embryos and send this to PolygenX.

After analysing the data PolygenX will rank each of the embryos according to traits such as IQ, risk of ADHD or bipolar disorder, biological sex and different forms of cancer.

Finally, the parent would return to the IVF clinic and request to have their chosen embryo implanted.

Using the PolygenX dashboard, parents can also calculate how many IQ points their child could expect to gain based on how many embryos they screen.

The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) prohibits any use of PGT-P that does not meet the strict criteria for genetic testing and is not backed by scientific evidence.

HFEA chief executive Peter Thompson told MailOnline: 'Current evidence suggests that polygenic risk scores, which claim to estimate your genetic risk for certain diseases or traits like IQ or height, can be interpreted too rigidly and are not currently backed up by evidence from scientific studies.'

Nor is there good evidence that traits such as intelligence are as strongly determined by genetics as PolygenX claims.

PolygenX claims that intelligence is up to 80 per cent genetically determined but most researchers suggest that upbringing plays a far larger role.

In reality, there is no specific gene which is associated with intelligence which makes it almost impossible to select genetically for these traits.

This is also the case for conditions such as bipolar disorder, cancer, or ADHD which PolygenX claims to detect.

Mr Thompson adds: 'It’s also worth bearing in mind that making healthy lifestyle choices is likely to have a bigger impact on preventing disease than relying on these genetic scores.'

This means that many viable embryos are discarded because of diseases the baby would never develop.

Ultimately, that means a lower chance of a healthy baby being born and many more unnecessary rounds of IVF.

Researchers have also raised concerns that trying to enhance traits associated with multiple genes could lead to disastrous health consequences.

For example, the set of genes associated with enhanced IQ are also linked to a higher risk of anorexia, while IVF babies have been found to be twice as likely to suffer heart defects. 

Many critics also dispute the ethics of allowing babies to be engineered for traits which aren't linked to their health. 

These concerns are heightened by the fact that these services are so expensive that they will only be available to the super rich.

This has sparked worries that genetic advantages may become divided by class and wealth. 

It is not clear how many parents have undergone this treatment and the company's client list is a closely guarded secret.

However, speaking to an undercover reporter Mr Anomoly said that he had secured a meeting with Elon Musk to discuss the company.

Mr Anomoly said that 'he thinks it’s cool' and added: 'I know he supports us.'

Additionally, Hope Not Hate alleges that this analysis is only possible thanks to data provided by the UK Biobank, a scientific database holding the genetic data and medical records of 500,000 people.

While PolygenX does not have access to the UK Biobank directly, Hope Not Hate claims that it has been able to gain access to data through its parent company, Heliospect Genomics.

The Biobank publishes information on anyone who accesses its data and records show that in 2023, Heliospect Genomics requested biobank information to test 'advanced techniques on new genetic data'.

Speaking to an undercover reporter Mr Anomaly said: 'The UK Biobank is a godsend. That’s basically the best thing that's ever happened for this field.'

In their report, Hope Not Hate argues that there are 'ethical concerns' over a company using British volunteers' data to carry out procedures that are not legal in the UK.

However, in a statement, the UK Biobank said: 'This is entirely consistent with our access conditions.'

Hope Not Hate's investigation further alleges that a number of individuals associated with PolygenX are associated with far-right and racist movements.

Alexandros Giannelis the researcher at Heliospect Genomics who secured UK Biobank access was found to be a customer of the Nazi music website 'Midgård'.

When the site was hacked in 2023 it was revealed that Mr Giannelis purchased 'Invasion', a book by the white supremacist group Blood and Honour, and four Nazi propaganda posters.

Likewise, the company's chief science officer Tobias Wolfram was found to be a member of the closed Telegram chat of Austrian far-right activist Martin Sellner.

In 2024, Mr Wolfram allegedly posted the anti-immigrant slogan 'we were never asked' in the private channel.

PGT-P screening itself has been described as a form of eugenics, a scientific idea championed by the Nazi party and used to justify racial purges of 'inferior' genes.

The company's co-founder, Jonathan Anomaly, has been an outspoken advocate of eugenics.

On his substack and on various podcasts, Mr Anomaly has claimed it was not fair that eugenics has become a 'dirty word'. 

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Instead, Mr Anomoly has advocated for giving parents the choice whether they want to enhance their children's genes.  

Mr Anomaly also describes himself as a 'race realist', referring to the belief that there are scientifically demonstratable racial differences.

He has also given talks hosted by 'scientific racism' websites and has written articles for a website run by Holocaust denier Ron Unz.

PolygenX, Mr Wolfram, and Mr Anomoly strongly dispute Hope Not Hate's characterisation and reject any association between the company and the alt-right.

What are designer babies and why are they illegal?

Designer babies are born when parents select certain embryos based on their potential traits.

While undergoing IVF parents can screen the genetic attributes of their embryos to make predictions about complex attributes controlled by many different genes.

Some claim that this technique, called preimplantation genetic testing for polygenic risk (PGT-P), can be used to select embryos based on traits like height, eye colour, gender, or even intelligence.

Are designer babies legal?

In the UK using PGT-P is strictly controlled by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and is only allowed in cases where it can prevent life-threatening conditions.

It is not legal to use PGT-P to screen for anything not covered by this definition or not supported by rigorous scientific evidence.

This means that designer babies are only legal in the sense that parents can choose to avoid embryos with certain congenital health risks.

It is not legal to screen embryos for intelligence or height.

In the US, however, the rules are more relaxed and there are no federal or state laws governing the use of PGT-P screening.

That means designer babies can be selected for any set of traits.

What do the advocates say?

Advocates of designer babies argue that they are giving their children the best chance in life.

Some prominent pronatatalists claim that this process will trigger the general improvement of humanity.

A few have gone so far as to suggest that PGT-P screening for intelligence should be offered for free as a means of improving social mobility.

More modest proponents argue that, if screening should be allowed for health, it should also be allowed for conditions that improve their children's lives.

Studies have shown that intelligence is linked to a lower mortality rate and longer life expectancy.

Therefore, some claim that screening for intelligence is no different from looking at health conditions.

What do the critics say?

The HFEA warns that so-called 'polygenic' traits are extremely complex and poorly understood.

There is very little evidence that trying to select for intelligence or height will actually lead to smarter or taller children.

All PGT-P predictions are statistical, which means there is no guarantee of success.

Even if it did work there is a risk that by selecting for positive traits parents may also enhance the risk of negative traits.

For example, the genes associated with intelligence are also linked to higher rates of anorexia.

Ethically, many argue that it is immoral to select children based on superficial characteristics like eye or hair colour.

Other critics point out that designer babies are a form of eugenics, a belief that the human race can be improved by selective breeding.

The views of eugenics are often used to promote racist ideologies about the superiority of certain races.

Due to the prohibitive cost of these treatments, some critics also fear that the growing use of PGT-P screening will concentrate genetic advantages among the rich and powerful.