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Personal Genomics Firm 23andMe Patents Designer Baby System

Posted by timothy on from the not-creepy-at-all dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Consumer genomics company 23andMe has developed a system for helping prospective parents choose the traits of their offspring, from disease risk to hair color. The patent — number 8543339, "Gamete donor selection based on genetic calculations" — describes a technology that would take a customer's preferences for a child's traits, compute the likely genomic outcomes of combinations between a customer's sperm or egg and other people's sex cells, and describe which potential reproductive matches would most likely produce the desired baby."

11 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Dating service to come? by nitzmahone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hmm, sounds like the logical next step is a dating service to match those traits. Who's doing the cyber-squatting for 23harmony.com and eugenicsmingle.com?

    1. Re:Dating service to come? by AuMatar · · Score: 4, Informative

      And come away very disappointed. I tried that in my 20s, I found a bunch of 50 year old women, and 1 or 2 15 year olds. Nothing in between.

      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
    2. Re:Dating service to come? by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I've never seen the appeal of Mensa.

      It sounds like being in a room full of people like the Comic Book Guy from Simpsons who like to stand around and feel self superior, when in actuality they're a bunch of complete wankers looking for validation.

      Certainly the only people I've ever met who claimed to be members were best described like that.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    3. Re:Dating service to come? by Joce640k · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What happened to live and let live?

      It's just a club, like a club for stamp collectors (or whatever).

      Mensa might not sound useful to you, but they obviously think it is or they wouldn't be paying membership fees.

      (And remember: They're smarter than you...)

      --
      No sig today...
    4. Re:Dating service to come? by metlin · · Score: 4, Interesting

      (And remember: They're smarter than you...)

      By one measure of intelligence. I've done pretty well in most standardized and IQ tests, and yet, in many instances, my intelligence is more analytical than anything else. When it comes to other areas, I know I am sorely lacking.

      In contrast, I know people (e.g. musicians) who intuitively process music theory (or even math), people whose reflexes in sports are miles ahead of my own (to predict where a ball may be and how quickly you can intercept it is also a form of intelligence), and people who can read emotions extremely well and manipulate them.

      So, yeah, while people who belong to Mensa may be smart in some areas, I would question the blanket statement that they are "smarter than you" (i.e. the general populace).

    5. Re:Dating service to come? by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What useful function can the 98th percentile accomplish from this association? What does Mensa actually do?

      At the end of the day, it's essentially a social club like the Rotary Club or the Knights of Columbus. It's just a self-selected group based on a specific set of criteria.

      To the best of my knowledge, Mensa hasn't collectively gotten together to 'do' anything like solving specific problems.

      More like get together for cocktails, and discuss the semantic differences between a canape and an hors d'ouevre, and other such fascinating trivia.

      If they were children, there would be a club house and a sign saying "no X allowed". Other than that, I'm sure people will tell you how awesome it is and all the good they do -- and those people will likely be members.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    6. Re:Dating service to come? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I took one of the (free) tests to evaulate my suitability for MENSA (I was curious).

      I received a letter back from them informing me that I was probably in the top two percentile as far as IQ scores went, but to confirm they'd need me to sit a more exacting test, which would only set me back £150.

      At that point I decided to use my superior intelligence to spend the money on beer instead.

  2. Re:Genomics? by phrostie · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ok, if Monsanto can sue a farmer for reusing a genetically modified seed, does this mean that Personal Genomics could sue the kids when they give you grand kids?

  3. The Superhuman Future? Khan? by ScottCooperDotNet · · Score: 3, Informative

    I imagine most readers are worried about super-strength people, but on a more practical basis, this could be used to prevent genetic predisposition to disease, like breast cancer gene carriers being able to ensure their child won't be carriers of the gene, or even the mentally ill from passing on genes related to say, schizophrenia.

  4. Re:The Superhuman Future? Khan? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It COULD be used to screen for undesirable traits (but that's eugenics), it WILL be used to screen for 'desirable' traits - that's money.

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    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  5. Re:Prior art by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ah, but the question is do these guys actually have a specific implementation?

    Or is this a business process patent disguised as a specific implementation?

    I don't know enough about the state of genetics to know if they can do this or not. But so many patents are just bafflegab intended to make it look like you've solved a problem -- when in fact you've just enumerated some of the things you'd need and don't have a way of doing it.

    The devil is in the details, and I'm skeptical they have anything more than a series of whitepapers detailing how you'd go about it.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.