Smart baby race in Silicon Valley: They're paying $50,000 for embryo tests

In Silicon Valley , some tech executives are paying tens of thousands of dollars for genetic tests that screen embryos for IQ, hoping to boost their children's intelligence potential.

According to the Wall Street Journal, startups like Nucleus Genomics and Herasight have begun offering IQ-estimating tests to determine which embryos will be used in in vitro fertilization treatments. Prices for these services, which have become popular in the Bay Area, start at around $6,000 at Nucleus and go up to $50,000 at Herasight.

"A SUPERIOR CASTLE MAY FORM" Last month, Elon Musk's "Awesome" comment on a post about Herasight sparked interest in the field. However, experts cautioned that this method, known as polygenic embryo screening (PES), is solely a commercial service and carries ethical risks. Stanford University Professor Hank Greely warned, "This could turn into a science fiction scenario where the rich create a genetically superior caste and the rest are left behind."

Sasha Gusev, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, said some tech executives attribute their success to "good genes" and want to pass the same advantage on to their children.