Biotech startups are screening embryos for various desirable and undesirable traits before choosing what to implant. By Jonathan Small | edited by Dan Bova | May 08, 2026 This is not science fiction. New technology allows parents to screen embryos for traits like high IQ, height and eye color to create “genetically-enhanced” humans—and companies are charging up to $50,000 for the service. Biotech startups like Herasight in North Carolina, Nucleus Genomics in New York and Orchid Health in California use polygenic risk scores to predict which embryos are most likely to produce tall, smart, healthy children. The technology analyzes genetic variants to estimate everything from Alzheimer’s risk to propensity for baldness.…