Every baby has around a hundred new genetic mutations

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I hate to break this to you, but every child is a genetic experiment – and nature doesn’t care if things go wrong. Our genomes are awful messes created by conflicting evolutionary forces, and every one of us is a new throw of the genetic dice, with a hundred or so brand–new random mutations thrown into the mix. 

For this reason, I have no doubt that if civilisation survives the various looming crises – including but not limited to climate change – gene-editing embryos will one day become routine. Eventually, natural conception could even come to be regarded as irresponsible. 

We’ve an awfully long way to go before we get to that point – although you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise, if you’ve been listening to tech-bro hype this year. In 2025, we learned of no fewer than three start-ups that are aiming to create gene-edited babies.

So, are CRISPR babies just around the corner – or could start-ups like these actually be counterproductive? 

Preventing genetic disease 

Two of the start-ups – Manhattan Genomics and Preventive – have said their aim is to prevent serious inherited diseases rather than enhance people. A worthy aim. But the good news is that such conditions can already be prevented by various screening methods, such as genetic testing of IVF embryos before implantation. There are very few cases where screening will not work. 

So why would you found a company to develop a technically and legally tricky product – gene-edited embryos – when there’s already an existing product – IVF screening – without these issues? 

When I put this question to the two companies, Preventive didn’t reply, but a spokesperson for Manhattan Genomics said that couples undergoing IVF often don’t have enough embryos to select from. If embryos that carry disease can be edited rather than discarded, this increases the chances of a child being born. The company estimates that gene editing “could correct approximately 10 Huntington’s disease-affected embryos and 35 sickle cell disease-affected embryos each year just for couples currently using IVF”.  

This would equate to a tiny number of children – only around a third of implanted IVF embryos result in a live birth and this is likely to be lower after editing. What’s more, there are also serious issues with doing this. Firstly, while CRISPR methods have advanced hugely, there’s still a risk of dangerous mutations occurring as a side effect.