Public perceptions of polygenic screening of embryos
Day & Date : Thursday, 3 April 2025
Time : 5.00pm to 6.00pm (Refreshments starts at 6.00pm)
Venue : NUSS Kent Ridge Guild House, Level 2, Cluny Room
Dr Edmond Awad
Senior Research Fellow at The Uehiro Oxford Institute at University of Oxford
Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter
Biography
Edmond Awad is a Senior Research Fellow at The Uehiro Oxford Institute at University of Oxford (secondment from University of Exeter). Concurrently, Edmond is a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the Department of Economics and the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Exeter. In addition, Edmond is an Associate Research Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Formerly, Edmond was a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT Media Lab (2017-2019). In 2016, Edmond led the design, development, and research of Moral Machine, a website that gathers human decisions on moral dilemmas faced by driverless cars. The website has been visited by over 10 million users, who contributed their judgements on 100 million dilemmas. Edmond’s work appeared in major academic journals, including Nature, PNAS, and Nature Human Behaviour, and it has been covered in major media outlets including The Associated Press and The New York Times.
Abstract
Advances in reproductive technologies, particularly Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT), have enabled prospective parents to make more informed decisions about improving their future children’s health outcomes. While the use of PGT to identify severe medical conditions enjoys broad public support, its application for selecting non-medical traits, such as intelligence or antisocial traits or personality characteristics, remains ethically contentious and raises complex psychological questions. Existing research suggests limited public willingness to test for non-medical traits; however, little is known about how such information, if provided, influences embryo selection decisions. This presentation reports findings from studies exploring public preferences for polygenic screening in embryos, showing that while participants favour testing for medical conditions, information about non-medical traits nonetheless significantly influences their decisions. Additionally, we introduce a novel online platform designed to explore how people navigate complex ethical decisions with a potential reach to millions of public preferences.
Venue
For any questions relating to this event, please contact Ms Sarah Kay (sarahkay@nus.edu.sg)