Ethicist foresees choosing your baby from dozens of embryos

NEW YORK (AP) — A prominent biomedical ethics expert says that in 20 to 40 years, many prospective parents may choose from dozens of embryos to become their babies.

Hank Greely, a Stanford University law professor, says the couples would be provided with genetic information about each embryo to help make the choice.

That’s a possible outcome if scientists can learn how to make lots of eggs from the skin cells of a woman. So far, that transformation has been achieved only in skin cells of mice.

Greely figures the main attraction would be the chance to avoid terrible childhood diseases. Genetic information about tendencies in behavioral traits like intelligence might be included, but he thinks any predictions would be imprecise.