The Human Intelligence Podcast How Much Can Embryo Selection Increase IQ? | Dr. Jonathan Anomaly
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Dec 5, 2025 
Dr. Jonathan Anomaly, a philosopher and bioethics expert, dives into the intriguing world of embryo selection and its potential impact on intelligence. He discusses how polygenic scores are constructed and the realistic IQ gains from selecting embryos, revealing that many parents prioritize disease risk over IQ. Anomaly also tackles ethical concerns surrounding genetic choices, the limitations of current gene editing technologies, and potential societal effects of modest IQ shifts. Their conversation raises critical questions about voluntary selection versus state interventions in genetics.
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How Polygenic Scores Work
- Polygenic scores sum many small genetic associations from large biobanks to predict traits like height or IQ.
- Prediction quality depends on sample size, phenotype accuracy, ancestry representation, and validation.
Realistic IQ Gains From Embryo Selection
- Current within-family IQ predictors reach ~0.47 correlation and can rank embryos meaningfully.
- With 10 embryos you might see ~15 IQ points between highest and lowest predicted embryos, ~7.5 points versus random.
Clients Trade Off IQ For Health
- Even parents who care deeply about IQ sometimes avoid the highest-IQ embryo due to disease risks.
- One customer rejected the top-IQ embryo because it had high predicted Type 1 diabetes risk and surgical career concerns.
