Rise of the Superbaby? US Startup Offers Genetic IQ Screening for Wealthy Elite

A U.S. startup, Heliospect Genomics, is making waves—and raising eyebrows—by charging wealthy couples up to $50,000 to screen embryos for IQ and other desirable traits. Using experimental genetic selection technology, the company claims it can help parents undergoing IVF choose embryos with IQ scores six points higher than naturally conceived babies. Yes, you read that right—designer babies may no longer just be a sci-fi trope.

Heliospect has already worked with over a dozen couples, as revealed by undercover footage from Hope Not Hate, an anti-fascist group. In a recorded November 2023 call, CEO Michael Christensen painted an ambitious, almost utopian picture of the future, saying, "Everyone can have children that are basically disease-free, smart, healthy; it’s going to be great." If that doesn’t sound like the opening monologue of a dystopian movie, I don’t know what does.

The company's services rely on polygenic scoring, a technique that ranks embryos based on traits like IQ, height, sex, and even risk factors for obesity and mental illness. They’ve tied their algorithms to data from the UK Biobank, a publicly funded genetic repository, which raises its own ethical questions. While UK law bans selecting embryos based on predicted IQ, the U.S. allows it—though the technology isn’t widely available yet. For now, Heliospect is operating in "stealth mode." Couples screening fewer embryos pay a more "modest" $4,000 fee, according to the company.

But not everyone’s buying the promise of smarter, healthier kids. Geneticists and bioethicists warn that embryo screening could reinforce harmful ideas about "superior" and "inferior" genetics. Hope Not Hate’s reporting even links some Heliospect employees to controversial ideologies like scientific racism. Katie Hasson from the Center for Genetics and Society echoed these concerns, saying the technology could normalize the belief that inequality stems from biology rather than societal factors. It’s a slippery slope, and we all know how those usually end.

Heliospect is adamant that their practices comply with laws and regulations, emphasizing the potential of their technology to help people while calling for public education and informed debates. However, their lofty vision for the future includes industrial-scale embryo production and even screening for personality traits like narcissism or psychopathy. Christensen reportedly speculated that such advancements could allow parents to handpick "elite" traits from a pool of up to a million embryos. And, as if that weren’t enough, he casually mentioned that many people are asking about screening for beauty, too. It’s giving "Gattaca" meets Instagram filter.

Among Heliospect’s senior staff is Jonathan Anomaly, an academic known for defending "liberal eugenics," the idea that parents should use genetic tools to enhance their kids’ traits. Anomaly insists his work is meant to spark debate, but critics worry that the company's access to datasets like UK Biobank is being used for purposes not disclosed in their application.

As the ethical debate rages on, experts like Stanford bioethicist Hank Greely suggest that more restrictions may be needed for genetic databases. Meanwhile, Heliospect says its use of UK Biobank data is fully lawful and supports ongoing dialogue about the technology. Whether this dialogue leads to progress or Pandora’s box remains to be seen.