Investigations The Startup Selling 'Optimized' Babies Just Paid to Gene-Edit Human Embryos
Columbia scientists rewrote cholesterol and sickle-cell genes in human embryos, reaching 100 percent in embryos edited before their first division. The funder sells parents 'optimized' babies, and a germline edit like this could be inherited by every generation that follows.
By Marcus Chen · September 10, 2026