What is polygenic embryo screening in IVF and does it work?

The Guardian has learned that couples undergoing IVF in the UK are exploiting an apparent legal loophole to rank their embryos based on genetic predictions of IQ. But what is polygenic screening and does it work?Fertility treatments are strictly regulated, with tests performed on embryos legally restricted to a list of serious health conditions. These include about 1,700 single-gene disorders, including Huntington’s, cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell disease. Clinics can also test for aneuploidy – when an embryo has extra or missing chromosomes – which lowers the chance of a successful pregnancy or can lead to genetic conditions. Polygenic screening, or PGT-P, which aims to give predictive scores for health, height, IQ and other traits is not permitted

UK IVF couples use legal loophole to rank embryos based on potential IQ, height and health

Couples undergoing IVF in the UK are exploiting an apparent legal loophole to rank their embryos based on genetic predictions of IQ, height and health, the Guardian has learned.The controversial screening technique, which scores embryos based on their DNA, is not permitted at UK fertility clinics and critics have raised scientific and ethical objections, saying the method is unproven. But under data protection laws, patients can – and in some cases have – demanded their embryos’ raw genetic data and sent it abroad for analysis in an effort to have smarter, healthier children.Dr Cristina Hickman, a senior embryologist and founder of Avenues fertility clinic in London, said rapid advances in embryo screening techniques and the recent launch of several US companies offering so-called polygenic screening had left clinics facing “legal and ethical confusion”.“This opens a whole can of worms,” said Hickman, who raised the issue in a letter last month to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)

AI deepfakes of real doctors spreading health misinformation on social media

TikTok and other social media platforms are hosting AI-generated deepfake videos of doctors whose words have been manipulated to help sell supplements and spread health misinformation.The factchecking organisation Full Fact has uncovered hundreds of such videos featuring impersonated versions of doctors and influencers directing viewers to Wellness Nest, a US-based supplements firm.All the deepfakes involve real footage of a health expert taken from the internet. However, the pictures and audio have been reworked so that the speakers are encouraging women going through menopause to buy products such as probiotics and Himalayan shilajit from the company’s website.The revelations have prompted calls for social media giants to be much more careful about hosting AI-generated content and quicker to remove content that distorts prominent people’s views

We must warn travellers about the risk of methanol poisoning | Letters

With 14,600 deaths caused by suspected methanol poisoning incidents worldwide since 2015, much more needs to be done to prevent tragedies like the death of Simone White in Laos last year (Brain damage, blindness and death: the global trail of trauma left by methanol-laced alcohol, 29 November).Following campaigning by bereaved families and supportive MPs, the UK government has included education about methanol dangers in the national curriculum and strengthened Foreign Office advice to travellers, extending the warning to more countries. We now need a wider national campaign involving travel companies, with a message that in countries such as Indonesia, which has the highest number of reported incidents of suspected methanol poisoning globally in the past 10 years, spirits should be avoided altogether.Jim Dickson MPLabour, Dartford Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

A guide to the Guardian’s 2025 charity appeal partners

Locality is the national network that brings together people to transform lives and improve the place they live. Its 2,000 members are local community organisations, often in the most disadvantaged areas, who create connections and provide vital services – from food banks to community centres, affordable housing projects to youth clubs.As Locality’s chief executive, Tony Armstrong, says: “Our work is the antidote to despair – we inspire hope and generate resilience, pride and opportunity.”Rooted in local areas, Locality members counter the extremism and toxic narratives that erode trust and pit neighbours against one another. “The only way to combat division is to connect people, building bridges in communities rather than putting up walls,” he says

Tell us: have you lived in temporary accommodation in the UK with children?

More than 172,000 children were living in temporary accommodation in England at the end of June, according to the latest quarterly official figures from October.That represented an 8.2% rise on the same period last year. There are now more than 130,000 households households living in temporary accommodation in England, the figures showed.Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “Tragically we have now become totally accustomed to seeing record levels of children growing up in temporary accommodation