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Nature Podcast

Audio long read: The controversial embryo tests that promise a better baby

Nature Podcast

podcast@nature.com

News, Science, Technology

4.5893 Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2022

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Companies are offering genetic tests of embryos generated by in vitro fertilization that they say allow prospective parents to choose those with the lowest risk for diseases such as diabetes or certain cancers. However, some researchers are concerned about the accuracy and ethics of these tests.


This is an audio version of our Feature: The controversial embryo tests that promise a better baby


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0

At three business, we know the importance of keeping your business connected.

0:04.8

Whether you're doing emails on the 7.30 to Paddington or taking a video call on site,

0:10.6

our multi-simp plans all come with unlimited calls, texts and data.

0:15.2

Plus, with 99% UK coverage, you can do your best work wherever you are.

0:23.5

Head in store or search three business.

0:29.9

Unlimited UK only, 99% outdoor population coverage. Terms apply.

0:42.3

This is an audio long read from nature. In this episode, the controversial embryo tests that promise a better baby.

0:46.1

Written by Max Kozlov and read by me, Benjamin Thompson.

0:53.5

She has her mother's eyes, begins the advertisement, but will she also inherit her breast cancer

0:56.6

diagnosis? The smooth voice in the video is promoting the services of genomic prediction,

1:02.6

a US company that says it can help prospective parents to answer this question by testing

1:08.2

the genetics of embryos during fertility treatment. For Nathan

1:12.8

Treff, the company's chief scientific officer, this mission is personal. At 24, he was diagnosed

1:19.9

with type 1 diabetes, a disease that cost his grandfather his leg. If Treff had it his way,

1:27.1

no child would be born with a high risk

1:29.6

for the condition. His company in North Brunswick, New Jersey, offers tests based on a decade

1:36.2

of research into polygenic risk scores, which calculates someone's likelihood of getting a disease

1:42.8

on the basis of the genetic contributions

1:45.6

of hundreds, thousands or even millions of single DNA letter changes in the genome.

1:52.0

Genomic prediction and some other companies have been using these scores to test embryos generated

1:57.2

by in vitro fertilization, or IVF, allowing prospective parents to choose those with the

2:03.5

lowest risk for diseases, such as diabetes or certain cancers. A co-founder of genomic prediction

...

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