PGT-P and embryo selection made a splash on the front page of the Observer. 'Hoping for a 'perfect' baby? Genetic testing startups lure parents to US' ran the headline.
PGT-P is preimplantation genetic testing involving polygenic scores to try to predict outcomes for partly heritable traits such as height, or to attribute risks of common medical conditions that are influenced by many small genetic effects (and that are also influenced by environmental factors).
Journalist, Emma Haslett, described how a couple in the USA, who were using fertility treatment to create a family, decided to choose an embryo which among other things 'was estimated to have the highest IQ'.
The article went on to remind readers how some patients had been asking fertility clinics in the UK for their embryo's genetic data after routine testing in the UK and sending it on to US companies for PGT-P. This was an issue which Dr Cristina Hickman had drawn to the attention of the UK's fertility regulator the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) last year. PGT-P is against the law in the UK.
Cristina is an advocate for permitting PGT-P in the UK. She wrote an article entitled 'Why I think PGT-P should be legalised in the UK' for BioNews earlier this year.
The Observer referred to an article 'Why PGT-P is not lawful in the UK: The regulator explains' written for BioNews by the HFEA's chief executive Peter Thompson in response to Cristina. In this article he said, 'If a UK-based clinician acted on a patient's preference, which was based on PGT-P results, then the clinician would be acting unlawfully.'
Looking at the issues more broadly, PET Director Sarah Norcross was quoted in the Observer commenting on the significance of how a child is raised.
'People may think, this embryo is going to be really smart. But that baby is not going to be really smart if you don't read to them. Making good educational choices would probably have more impact on IQ than selecting that embryo.'
The Observer article is behind a paywall. However, you can read a follow up article written by Cristina for BioNews on whether PGT-P should be permitted in the UK entitled 'PGT-P in the UK: The public needs more from the HFEA'.
PET will keep you posted on future developments.