This collection of discussions reflects a consensus that embryo screening for traits like height and IQ has minimal predictive power, illustrated by comments referencing seminal papers and emphasizing that benefits are small and uncertain. The tone balances scientific rigor and skepticism, with some posts debating ethical concerns, which demonstrates thoughtful engagement and recognition of the publication's influence in shaping scientific discourse.
AgreementModerate agreement
Most discussions acknowledge the limited utility of embryo polygenic screening, citing specific studies and emphasizing that current methods offer only small predictive gains.
InterestHigh interest
Many posts actively engage with the topic, referencing scientific papers and debates about ethical implications, indicating high curiosity and concern among intellectual circles.
EngagementHigh engagement
Discussions involve detailed analysis of research findings, including citations of studies like Karavani et al., and explore implications, showing deep intellectual engagement.
ImpactModerate impact
The conversations highlight that the publication influences ongoing scientific and ethical debates, although the direct practical impact remains limited due to methodological constraints.
Abstract in brief
The study examines the potential benefits of screening human embryos for traits like height and intelligence using polygenic scores, but finding that the actual improvement is minimal.
The expected increase in traits from embryo screening is small, around 0.25 cm for height and 2.5 IQ points, and these outcomes have wide variations making predictions uncertain.
The findings suggest that, given current technology, embryo screening offers limited utility in significantly enhancing complex traits, and often the top-scoring embryo isn't the physically tallest or smartest among siblings.]
Most recently Visscher et al. 2025 Nature (https://t.co/Wk97zhNBin) on germline editing; but also Karavani et al. 2019 Cell (https://t.co/jZNoiJoObJ) and Turley et al. 2021 NEJM (https://t.co/rIfZxfaUva) on embryo selection. Nature, Cell, and NEJM are hardly unknown venues.
Feb 21, 2025 · 120 likes · 4 shares · 20,429 followersView post →
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Graham Coop
@Graham_Coop · X
There are some papers about the limited utility of PGS for embryo screening, e.g. Karavani et al, but I'm guessing those aren't the ones she's hoping parents read https://t.co/sI4gnPmlg0
Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/8ecSNfcJGF - really nice work from @ehudkar, @ShaiCarmi + colleagues https://t.co/Rb3BUryr7q
Nov 22, 2019 · 20 likes · 6 shares · 40,450 followersView post →
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Diana S. Fleischman
@sentientist · X
References
Misstated above -"approximately 1 to 5 IQ points for *an* additional year of education" https://t.co/DSU7UNl1e2
Polygenic screening of embryos - given 10 embryos (paper from 2019 and screening is better now)
https://t.co/tRMWZmMULd https://t.co/z0fScgYgZ1
The core issue is captured by two seminal papers. First, Karavani et al. 2019 (https://t.co/jZNoiJoObJ) found that screening embryos for continuous traits has limited utility. Then, in 2021 many of the same authors found that selection CAN reduce risk for certain diseases. https://t.co/zgrWJnrBvg
Aug 10, 2025 · 17 likes · 20,429 followersView post →
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Leonid Kruglyak
@leonidkruglyak · X
@jashapiro @Graham_Coop I’ll just leave this here: https://t.co/qUDkgSUyqS
The study examines the potential benefits of screening human embryos for traits like height and intelligence using polygenic scores, but finds minimal improvements of around 0.25 cm in height and 2.5 IQ points, with…
Exploring the creation of artificial embryos and the steps in forming the human spine in vitro, highlighting recent advances in stem cell research and body plan reconstruction.
This video examines the potential benefits of screening human embryos for polygenic traits like height and intelligence. The study finds that the actual improvements are minimal, with limited utility given current…
@immune_goeswild Yeah, I'm of the opinion that this technology has limited utility (e.g. https://t.co/jZNoiJpm1h and https://t.co/RVvq04Gr5g) but you can get impressive looking *relative* risk reductions for low incidence traits.
Nov 23, 2025 · 6 likes · 20,429 followersView post →
@ArtemisConsort Not bad because of Hitler, but laughably dumb because it's eugenic pseudoscience. You can't select for IQ like this b/c polygenic scores are just 4-10% of the variance in IQ. A "top-scoring" embryo results in an average gain of only 2.5 IQ points. https://t.co/ALU6MNqJIX
The core issue is captured by two seminal papers. First, Karavani et al. 2019 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31761530/) found that screening embryos for continuous traits has limited utility. Then, in 2021 many of the same authors found that selection CAN reduce risk for certain diseases.
The core issue is captured by two seminal papers. First, Karavani et al. 2019 (https://t.co/jZNoiJoObJ) found that screening embryos for continuous traits has limited utility. Then, in 2021 many of the same authors found that selection CAN reduce risk for certain diseases. https://t.co/zgrWJnrBvg
Aug 10, 2025 · 17 likes · 20,429 followersView post →
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Sasha Gusev
@SashaGusevPosts · X
@how_now00 The TLDR is that Karavani et al ( https://t.co/jZNoiJoObJ ) are still correct. The practical utility is limited and the uncertainty is still very high.
Aug 1, 2025 · 3 likes · 20,429 followersView post →
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AtypAlly
@AtypAlly · X
RT @SashaGusevPosts: Most recently Visscher et al. 2025 Nature (https://t.co/Wk97zhNBin) on germline editing; but also Karavani et al. 2019…
Feb 22, 2025 · 4 shares · 206 followersView post →
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Of Quartz
@PunishedQuartz · X
RT @SashaGusevPosts: Most recently Visscher et al. 2025 Nature (https://t.co/Wk97zhNBin) on germline editing; but also Karavani et al. 2019…
Feb 21, 2025 · 4 shares · 571 followersView post →
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Ben Hardisty, PhD
@TomHardyofmath · X
RT @SashaGusevPosts: Most recently Visscher et al. 2025 Nature (https://t.co/Wk97zhNBin) on germline editing; but also Karavani et al. 2019…
Feb 21, 2025 · 4 shares · 1,237 followersView post →
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Sasha Gusev
@SashaGusevPosts · X
Most recently Visscher et al. 2025 Nature (https://t.co/Wk97zhNBin) on germline editing; but also Karavani et al. 2019 Cell (https://t.co/jZNoiJoObJ) and Turley et al. 2021 NEJM (https://t.co/rIfZxfaUva) on embryo selection. Nature, Cell, and NEJM are hardly unknown venues.
Feb 21, 2025 · 120 likes · 4 shares · 20,429 followersView post →
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Av P
@AvP261357390235 · X
RT @SashaGusevPosts: For continuous traits, this utility is expected to be low even with a perfect GWAS-based predictor. Behavioral traits,…
For continuous traits, this utility is expected to be low even with a perfect GWAS-based predictor. Behavioral traits, in particular, have low within-family heritability. These expectations were derived and demonstrated in [Karavani et al. https://t.co/jZNoiJoObJ]. https://t.co/yzPT0ypMOB
@SpencrGreenberg It's very context specific. In general for continuous traits the benefits for embryo screening using a polygenic score are pretty small (https://t.co/jZNoiJoObJ). But for disease there can be some meaningful reduction especially if parents are cases (https://t.co/yriSr584NF).
Jun 30, 2024 · 3 likes · 20,429 followersView post →
N光
Niccolò 光头
@JollyJoker84 · X
@BronskiJoseph Or maybe not: https://t.co/PgaFTuJoDP
@PaolaAmato Yes, there's a good derivation here [ https://t.co/jZNoiJoObJ ]. The EA PGI explains ~1% of IQ directly (in Okbay 2022) so an expected gain of 1-2 IQ points under idealized conditions.
Dec 30, 2023 · 4 likes · 20,429 followersView post →
DS
dialecticbio.bsky.social
@DialecticBio · X
@datepsych @RebeccaSear "but not “it doesn’t work.”"
Wait, you think embryo selection works?
https://t.co/yIntFRMC5i https://t.co/4mYtwCTkgh
Nov 22, 2023 · 2 likes · 5,247 followersView post →
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Sasha Gusev
@SashaGusevPosts · X
@Bioliberalism @workercommie @krichard1212 @billionsmustliv @Hitchslap1 @EvolOdonata @monitoringbias @charlesmurray @jacobin embryo selection for IQ doesn't work:
https://t.co/jZNoiJoObJ
References
Misstated above -"approximately 1 to 5 IQ points for *an* additional year of education" https://t.co/DSU7UNl1e2
Polygenic screening of embryos - given 10 embryos (paper from 2019 and screening is better now)
https://t.co/tRMWZmMULd https://t.co/z0fScgYgZ1
Even in the current studies (https://t.co/JrD2bvY1H2) there is a surprising to me high variance of the scores on multi-sib families and I definitely agree with the authors "Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility"
@antonioregalado @ewanbirney @patrickaturley @ShaiCarmi As you recall, we have empirically examined PRS height prediction in real families with 10+ (adult) children. The results were not impressive, but closely matched our statistical models and simulations cc: @matthewherper
https://t.co/EDHFgRupvg
@ewanbirney Exactly. This is why our paper is titled: "Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility".
But turns out that if you do the same math for diseases, then even with all the remaining variance, you get very nice (relative) risk reductions.
There are some papers about the limited utility of PGS for embryo screening, e.g. Karavani et al, but I'm guessing those aren't the ones she's hoping parents read https://t.co/sI4gnPmlg0
@dr_appie I’ve also never understood this because there are so few permutations of polygenic scores amongst the few healthy embryos generated from a population of eggs and population of sperm. Even ignoring the ethics (which we shouldn’t) the utility seems limited. https://t.co/sxWxNo6esd
Screening and selecting embryos based on polygenic risk score (PRS). You can get a predicted boost of 2.5 IQ points OR 2.5cm of height (not both). A maelstrom of issues! @UKCGG....
Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/haWCe3ym9r
Nov 29, 2019 · 3 likes · 1 share · 2,245 followersView post →
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Seungmin Han
@SeungminHan3 · X
Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility: Cell https://t.co/r1xfDIRpac
Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/dmNaJdepMJ
Nov 22, 2019 · 4 likes · 3 shares · 962 followersView post →
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RaceRealist
@Race__Realist · X
RT @WiringTheBrain: Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/8ecSNfcJGF - really nice work from @ehudk…
Nov 22, 2019 · 6 shares · 4,244 followersView post →
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Claire Ainsworth
@ClaireAinsworth · X
RT @WiringTheBrain: Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/8ecSNfcJGF - really nice work from @ehudk…
Nov 22, 2019 · 6 shares · 3,568 followersView post →
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Ram Fernando
@RamFernando1 · X
RT @WiringTheBrain: Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/8ecSNfcJGF - really nice work from @ehudk…
Nov 22, 2019 · 6 shares · 901 followersView post →
JF
Jeremy Farrar
@JeremyFarrar · X
RT @WiringTheBrain: Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/8ecSNfcJGF - really nice work from @ehudk…
Nov 22, 2019 · 6 shares · 75,918 followersView post →
BB
Bioinformatics Masters @ Birkbeck
@bioinfoBBK · X
RT @WiringTheBrain: Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/8ecSNfcJGF - really nice work from @ehudk…
Nov 22, 2019 · 6 shares · 612 followersView post →
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Ewan Birney
@ewanbirney · X
RT @WiringTheBrain: Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/8ecSNfcJGF - really nice work from @ehudk…
Nov 22, 2019 · 6 shares · 47,799 followersView post →
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Kevin Mitchell
@WiringTheBrain · X
Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/8ecSNfcJGF - really nice work from @ehudkar, @ShaiCarmi + colleagues https://t.co/Rb3BUryr7q
Nov 22, 2019 · 20 likes · 6 shares · 40,450 followersView post →
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Silvia Sánchez-Ramón
@SilviaSchzRamon · X
RT @StefanoBerto83: Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility: Cell https://t.co/uH5BouvnkZ
Nov 22, 2019 · 1 share · 1,678 followersView post →
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FrezzaLab
@FrezzaLab · X
Screening Human Embryos for Polygenic Traits Has Limited Utility https://t.co/CO9nbf42D7
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 19, 2019 · 74 shares · 5,263 followersView post →
JB
john sakon (johnsakon @ bsky)
@jjsakon · X
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 16, 2019 · 74 shares · 871 followersView post →
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GiselaKopp | giselakopp.bsky.social
@gisela_kopp · X
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 9, 2019 · 74 shares · 687 followersView post →
JP
Jackson Sebigunda, PhD
@JSebigunda · X
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 8, 2019 · 74 shares · 611 followersView post →
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libereso
@dubioushandle · X
RT @WiringTheBrain: Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility https://t.co/XEDmQObyW8 https://t.co/nlfKdNiCVr
May 8, 2019 · 16 shares · 882 followersView post →
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Schraga Schwartz
@SchragaSchwartz · X
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 8, 2019 · 74 shares · 2,564 followersView post →
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Iman Hajirasouliha
@hajirasouliha · X
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 8, 2019 · 74 shares · 2,153 followersView post →
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Stefan Ruijsenaars
@stefan_arrr · X
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 8, 2019 · 74 shares · 1,915 followersView post →
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Michal Feldman
@feldman_mich · X
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 8, 2019 · 74 shares · 220 followersView post →
TA
Thread Reader App
@threadreaderapp · X
@khudkahealth Hello, you can read it here: Thread by @ShaiCarmi: "Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility" We provide an empirical fo […]" https://t.co/P4S8VGCjDZ
Enjoy :)
RT @WiringTheBrain: Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility https://t.co/XEDmQObyW8 https://t.co/nlfKdNiCVr
May 7, 2019 · 16 shares · 267 followersView post →
TA
Thread Reader App
@threadreaderapp · X
@benwilbrink Saluti you can read it here: Thread by @WiringTheBrain: "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility https://t.co/klMSj8xkIY… See also: Missing heritabil […]" https://t.co/8sBNmOQ8m3
Have a good day.
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 7, 2019 · 74 shares · 209 followersView post →
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Cecile Janssens
@cecilejanssens · X
RT @WiringTheBrain: Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility https://t.co/XEDmQObyW8 https://t.co/nlfKdNiCVr
May 7, 2019 · 16 shares · 9,662 followersView post →
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J. Camilo Chacón-Duque
@jcchacond · X
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
May 7, 2019 · 74 shares · 659 followersView post →
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Assert Biorxiv
@assert_pub · X
"Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility" is the #1 paper on bioRxiv today in genetics. Congrats @ShaiCarmi @AshleyZuk. See it at -> https://t.co/89h8nboii4 and https://t.co/FzHZI20dTl. Please retweet.
May 7, 2019 · 2 likes · 1 share · 847 followersView post →
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Genetic Futurology
@GeneticFuturist · X
RT @ShaiCarmi: Just posted our manuscript "Screening human embryos for polygenic traits has limited utility"
We provide an empirical found…
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