Thread by @WiringTheBrain

Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

See also: Missing heritability found safe and well wiringthebrain.com/2019/04/missin… - why effects of rare variants and epistatic interactions will limit the precision of genetic prediction

"even with 1000 embryos, the mean gain would be only ≈1.7 times higher
compared to selection with 10 embryos" biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

"For IQ, the 95% prediction interval would be ±13-19 points in case the entire heritability is explained" - i.e., even if we access the full heritability, genomic predictions will still be pretty shit for individual IQ

Is Our Future Really Written in Our Genes? blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/i… via @sciam

All of this leaves aside potential unintended consequences of selecting heavily on one trait (as genetic variants typically affect many traits, often in unpredictable ways)

And, as the authors state, does not consider at all the crucial ethical, moral and legal questions around the prospects of human embryo selection

Discussed more here: The New Eugenics – same as the Old Eugenics? wiringthebrain.com/2013/05/the-ne…