The Download: genetic embryo testing, and Germany’s nuclear predicament
Elizabeth Carr is head of commercial development at Genomic Prediction, a genetic testing startup that says it will assess embryos created in IVF clinics for their future chance of common diseases and then rank them, so parents can pick the one with the best future.
It’s a controversial area that has some critics anguishing over the prospect of consumer eugenics. Still, word of the company’s “health scores” for embryos is spreading via media reports and as the company starts to promote the tests to IVF clinics and at meetings.
Carr, who is in charge of sales and marketing, may just be the perfect spokesperson. That’s because she was the first person born through in vitro fertilization in the US back in 1981.Read the full story.
—Antonio Regalado
Inside Germany’s power struggle over nuclear energy
Just a decade ago, Germany was using nuclear power to meet about a quarter of its electricity demand. But earlier this month, the nation shut down the last of its nuclear power plants, 60 years after the first one began operation.
The reactions are mixed. Some consider this a victory, cheering as Germany moves away from an electricity source they see as dangerous and flawed. But others see it as a major potential roadblock for climate action—while nuclear plants have been shuttered left and right, coal power has chugged along, providing a huge chunk of the country’s electricity and spewing emissions all the while.
