Engineering humanity & where to draw a line

New research is offering a pathway to genetic optimisation, allowing parents to select not only healthier babies but also the human features they want. India must take the lead in research and set much-needed ethical benchmarks.

- Vivek Wadhwa

The future of human reproduction and genetic design is accelerating faster than most people understand, driven not by national debates or international accords, but by software startups, biotech investors, and quiet breakthroughs in fertility clinics. Nucleus Genomics recently unveiled Nucleus Embryo, a genetic screening platform that allows prospective parents to assess up to 20 embryos for more than 900 conditions and traits. These include not only polygenic risk scores for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's but also traits such as intelligence, height, and anxiety. In short, it offers a pathway to genetic optimisation — allowing parents to select not only healthier babies but the human features they want.

Orchid, another US startup, pioneered full-genome sequencing of IVF embryos for disease screening. Once exclusive to the ultra-wealthy, Orchid's services are rapidly becoming more affordable, pointing to a future where embryo selection could become a standard step in family planning for both the middle and upper class. Meanwhile, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, known for backing radical biotech ventures, has announced plans to launch a US company that would go beyond selection into embryo editing. Thanks to recent advances in base editing, it is now possible to alter individual DNA letters with high precision rewriting, rather than merely reading the code of life.