"The Practical Guide to Superbabies" by GeneSmith
LessWrong (Curated & Popular)
00:00
Intro
Tom Smith introduces the episode and frames polygenic embryo screening and his personal journey into the field.
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Transcript
Transcript
Episode notes
It's Summer of 2025. I’m standing in a grass covered field on the longest day of the year. A friend of mine walks towards me, holding his newborn son.
“Hey, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you were pretty instrumental in this kid existing. We read your blog post on polygenic embryo screening back in 2023 and decided to go through IVF to have him as a result.”
He hesitates for a moment, then asks “Do you want to hold him?” I nod.
As I cradle this child in my arms, I look down at his face. It feels surreal to think I played a part in him being here. It's the first time I've met one of these children that I've worked so hard to bring into existence.
My mind wanders back to a summer five years before when I was stuck at home during COVID, working my boring tech job selling chip design software for a large company. I remember the feeling of awe I had upon learning that it was possible to read an embryo's genome and estimate its risk of conditions like diabetes, then choose to implant an embryo with a [...]
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Outline:
(03:59) How large are the benefits of embryo screening? Is it even worth going through IVF?
(07:29) When averages dont work
(09:31) How much does IVF cost?
(11:36) How to find an IVF clinic
(15:08) Which PGT company should I use? What are the advantages of each?
(16:32) Quick comparison table
(17:03) Price comparison
(17:09) Notes on the above graph
(18:46) What are the actual differences between the embryo selection companies?
(19:18) How Genomic Prediction reads a genome
(21:23) How Orchid reads a genome
(23:47) How Herasight reads a genome
(28:35) Genetic load testing, de novo mutations, and other differences between embryo screening companies
(31:34) Family history
(32:22) Expanded carrier screening and universal PGT-M
(35:37) Whats the deal with Nucleus?
(38:28) How do I do this? Where do I start?
(42:15) How to get cheap IVF medication
(44:55) Connecting with me and others in this process
(45:34) FAQ
(45:37) Is this post medical advice?
(45:43) Are IVF babies less healthy than naturally conceived babies?
(47:29) How do we know embryo selection actually works?
(48:54) If I want to use a cheaper clinic, do I need to spend 3 weeks traveling?
(49:20) Which clinics definitely offer polygenic embryo screening?
[... 10 more sections]
---
First published:
April 2nd, 2026
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PPLHfFhNWMuWCnaTt/the-practical-guide-to-superbabies-3
---
Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
---
“Hey, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you were pretty instrumental in this kid existing. We read your blog post on polygenic embryo screening back in 2023 and decided to go through IVF to have him as a result.”
He hesitates for a moment, then asks “Do you want to hold him?” I nod.
As I cradle this child in my arms, I look down at his face. It feels surreal to think I played a part in him being here. It's the first time I've met one of these children that I've worked so hard to bring into existence.
My mind wanders back to a summer five years before when I was stuck at home during COVID, working my boring tech job selling chip design software for a large company. I remember the feeling of awe I had upon learning that it was possible to read an embryo's genome and estimate its risk of conditions like diabetes, then choose to implant an embryo with a [...]
---
Outline:
(03:59) How large are the benefits of embryo screening? Is it even worth going through IVF?
(07:29) When averages dont work
(09:31) How much does IVF cost?
(11:36) How to find an IVF clinic
(15:08) Which PGT company should I use? What are the advantages of each?
(16:32) Quick comparison table
(17:03) Price comparison
(17:09) Notes on the above graph
(18:46) What are the actual differences between the embryo selection companies?
(19:18) How Genomic Prediction reads a genome
(21:23) How Orchid reads a genome
(23:47) How Herasight reads a genome
(28:35) Genetic load testing, de novo mutations, and other differences between embryo screening companies
(31:34) Family history
(32:22) Expanded carrier screening and universal PGT-M
(35:37) Whats the deal with Nucleus?
(38:28) How do I do this? Where do I start?
(42:15) How to get cheap IVF medication
(44:55) Connecting with me and others in this process
(45:34) FAQ
(45:37) Is this post medical advice?
(45:43) Are IVF babies less healthy than naturally conceived babies?
(47:29) How do we know embryo selection actually works?
(48:54) If I want to use a cheaper clinic, do I need to spend 3 weeks traveling?
(49:20) Which clinics definitely offer polygenic embryo screening?
[... 10 more sections]
---
First published:
April 2nd, 2026
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PPLHfFhNWMuWCnaTt/the-practical-guide-to-superbabies-3
---
Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
---
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