Avoid “unproven and unethical” polygenic risk scores in embryo selection, say genetics experts

Geneticists have warned the public against buying polygenic risk score analyses, which some private fertility clinics claim can help parents using in vitro fertilisation in selecting embryos that carry the least risk of future disease.

It appears that at least one child has been born after such a procedure, but the use of polygenic risk score analysis in this respect is severely limited. No evidence shows that these tests can predict the likelihood of an unborn child being liable to a specific disease in the future, representatives from the European Society of Human Genetics wrote in the European Journal of Human Genetics.

Polygenic risk score analysis is mainly offered by fertility clinics in the US, although the practice is also being promoted in the UK.

Patients need to be properly informed on the limitations of its use and a societal debate, focused on what should be considered acceptable with regard to the selection of individual traits, should take place before any further implementation of the technique in this population.

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Source: BMJ, 26 January 2022