Jonathan Anomaly

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

1/ Today we launch an ambitious paper on the ethics of embryo screening. While the technology is new, our hopes and fears about our future children are as old as the Greek myths, including stories about Hera, goddess of fertility and the namesake of our company @herasight

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@confirmedterfs If you read the paper you'd see just how wrong you are

[Herasight @herasight]

Herasight spoke at the second annual conference of the Reproductive Genetics Institute in Berkeley, CA.

Our first talk, by Jonathan Anomaly, addresses what constitutes informed choice in the context of polygenic embryo screening
https://t.co/W4RkRowByx

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

A talk about informed choice and polygenic screening:

[Herasight @herasight]

Herasight spoke at the second annual conference of the Reproductive Genetics Institute in Berkeley, CA.

Our first talk, by Jonathan Anomaly, addresses what constitutes informed choice in the context of polygenic embryo screening
https://t.co/W4RkRowByx

[Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson]

These are the most important words a White House Chief of Staff have ever spoken…

Listen. You know I am right.

[Elan Bechor @elanbechor]

Older fathers transmit more de novo mutations (an extra ~1.5 per year), and their children have higher autism risk. But de novo mutations explain only about 10% of that association. The rest mostly reflects which men become older fathers, not what aging does to sperm.

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@itsolelehmann https://t.co/By6EgsIqVP

[Crémieux @cremieuxrecueil]

Devastating.

Nucleus responded to being caught doing fraud by doubling down and providing more evidence of malfeasance.

To make matters worse, the CEO engaged in actionable, baseless slander on top of it.

The whole thing is a mess.

[Reprogenetics Institute @Reprogenetics_]

Thanks to @JonathanAnomaly of @herasight for the talk!

YouTube link:

https://t.co/ORhSyu6OVk

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@secularprolife I’ve produced a decade of scholarship on this topic. Feel free to read that for answers

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@shae_mcl @gmiller @leonardocaff But yeah, bad parenting and unrealistic expectations can fuck children up no matter what: tiger parenting is bad both before and after birth

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@shae_mcl @gmiller @leonardocaff I think the biggest problem with biotech will be more diversity, not less. We’ll move in the direction of speciation. I’ve published quite a bit on these concerns, starting with this: https://t.co/oLGyXgcKXv

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

You declaring categorically that you know we hadn’t considered the points you raised above hardly smacks of humility. And yes, in some domains scientific authority matters: neither your nor I are statistical geneticists, yet you confidently and aggressively replied to the careful research we’d done on pleiotropy long before you had time to read any of it. You’re just reasoning emotionally, which this medium tends to invite, and which the modern philosophy academy tends to prize. Happy to ignore you going forward since you’re an emotional mess

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@shae_mcl @leonardocaff @gmiller I take it you’re worried about how widespread use of the tech might change social norms for the worse. This is a bit like Louise Perry’s take on contraception

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

Serious question: how does this not apply to monogenic conditions like apoe4 (associated with Alzheimer), or mutations to constrained genes that impair normal neurological function (associated with autism and intellectual disability)? Surely we’re “taking authorship” of the future person’s profile, no?

You’re sensible on this topic, so I’m genuinely curious what’s behind your bio-conservatism here

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@ProfBZZZ @cremieuxrecueil I love how self-confident you are in thinking we haven’t considered these things and aren’t publishing on them. Do you really believe you’re a better statistical geneticist than Alex Young and Tobias Wolfram? Fascinating that you teach PPE and have so little humility

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@MyDailyCross @jdflynn Aldous Huxley supporter eugenics: https://t.co/TN7wDEJM9E

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@AriSchulman There are trillions of potential people (combinations of sperm and eggs) that are never born. Nothing nefarious about that. Also, the vast majority of pregnancies result in miscarriage in the first few days, before a woman even notices. Are you upset about that? Serious question

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@gmiller @lymanstoneky I think synthetic genomes are more likely to materialize before we do massive, multiplex edits for embryos

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@gmiller @lymanstoneky This is at least an honest critique. Annoying when people can’t distinguish the claims (a) the science may work, but (b) I think people shouldn’t do IVF

[Jonathan Anomaly @JonathanAnomaly]

@AnnaKateShelt @neerajadeshp I’m still here honey. Do you have an actual scientific critique of the paper, or are you just going to try to wordcell your way out of it? Please share your critique of the science and we’ll be happy to answer you