# Nucleus Genomics Projects 14-Point IQ-Score Gap Across 10 IVF Embryos

By Simon Yoon

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/51726
Published: 2026-11-08T17:57:26.000Z
Updated: 2026-11-08T17:57:26.000Z
Section: Technology

> The model estimates about a 7-point difference between the highest-scoring embryo and one with an average score.

Nucleus Genomics’ Vitruvian models project a 14.3-point difference between the highest and lowest intelligence scores in a group of 10 IVF embryos, while the company estimates a smaller gap between the top-scoring embryo and one with an average score.

That top-to-average difference is about 7 points in a 10-embryo group, Nucleus says. For five embryos, the company projects a 10.8-point spread from highest to lowest and about a 5-point difference between the top-scoring embryo and an average one.

Vitruvian scores embryos already created through in vitro fertilization to help parents choose one for implantation. The models do not edit DNA. The figures are estimates from the company’s scoring model, rather than IQ test results from the embryos.

Nucleus says its intelligence score was trained using association data from about 500,000 people and evaluated on about 40,000 siblings of European ancestry in the UK Biobank. Its IQ estimate uses results from the UK Biobank’s verbal-numerical reasoning test.

A 2019 study estimated an average gain of about 2.5 IQ points when screening five viable embryos and about 3 points with 10. Those estimates are lower than the differences Nucleus projects for choosing the top-scoring embryo over one with an average score.

The National Advertising Division recommended that Nucleus stop implying its IVF+ service can accurately identify which embryo would be smartest. The division said the evidence did not establish that accuracy. Nucleus said it would appeal.

In December 2025, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s ethics and practice committees said polygenic embryo screening was unproven and should not be used clinically at that time.