Hank Greeley, professor of genetics and director of the Institute of Law and Biosciences at Stanford University, believes that “in 20-30 years, most Americans will not have sex to reproduce. Instead, they will choose embryos created in a special laboratory with the best indicators of risks and chances. Greeley presented his views on the future of human reproductive function at the Aspen Ideas Festival, according to the German newspaper Die Welt.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to say that this or that embryo will be able to score 1550 points on the SAT (American school test for admission to higher education),” says Greeley. But the predictions that "one embryo, for example, will have a 60% chance of getting into the upper strata of society, and another 13% chance of being in the top ten," Greeley considers realistic.
But first of all, in the course of pre-implantation diagnostics, artificially created embryos will be checked for hereditary cancers. It will also be possible to choose the gender and other characteristics of the child.
However, the professor notes that this method will not allow "creating" "ideal children", as scientists can only work with the DNA material of the parents. However, in the future, desirable qualities like blue eyes can be implemented using the DNA editing tool CRISPR.
Greeley is confident that in the future this process will become less expensive due to technical progress. What's more, Greeley believes this will save some of the healthcare costs. In particular, if the cost of a “selection” child is 10 thousand US dollars, 100 children will already bring a million dollars. The cost of caring for a sick child is so high that reducing the birth rate of sick children by only 0.3% will save significant amounts, the publication adds.
