The Woman Helping Create Superbabies

Noor Siddiqui is building technology that people call "designer babies"—and she's thought more carefully about the ethics than most of her critics. At 16, she decided she wanted to screen embryos for genetic disease. Today, as founder of Orchid, she does exactly that: scanning the full genome of IVF embryos to identify thousands of genetic risks, letting parents make more informed choices about which embryo to transfer. The result has divided the tech world, the medical world, and honestly, everyone in between.What started as a personal mission—sparked by her mother's diagnosis with retinitis pigmentosa and the realization that genetic screening could prevent catastrophic outcomes like stillbirth and infant death—has become one of biotech's most polarizing frontiers. Orchid has helped hundreds of thousands of families, yet the company faces fierce pushback from people who see technology touching birth as inherently wrong. Siddiqui doesn't dismiss that discomfort; she engages with it, and she's surprisingly sympathetic to the concerns that matter most.Join us for a searching conversation about what it means to grow up loved unconditionally, how a pole-vaulting face-plant teaches you to fail productively, why she's spent nearly two decades thinking about embryo screening, which criticisms of her field actually cut deep, the stranger at a party who told her she saved his life, and what legacy really means when you're hoping to someday just be a grandmother.0:00 Chai's warm intro to Noor1:40 Parents’ unconditional love7:35 Chai’s thoughts on parenting8:16 Noor’s childhood12:29 Orchid was always the goal18:46 What’s Orchid and why?25:30 Early Users and Haters30:52 Criticism that Noor understands34:35 Orchid’s accidental life changing storyWarm IntroA conversation, not an interview. Warm, sometimes weird, conversations with interesting people doing big things. Warm Intro is a video podcast. We're available on every major podcast app and YouTube.YouTube: @warmintroInstagram: @warm.introHosted by Chai MishraChai is the Founder of The Essential, an ethical commerce company funded by the leading lights of Silicon Valley.Chai served on the board of UNICEF, and has advised cities, universities, national sports teams and Fortune 500 corporations. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Chai’s work has also been covered in publications ranging from the SF Chronicle to Business Insider.Presented by WefunderWefunder created The Community Round.— allowing founders to raise funds directly from their communities  — allowing anyone to support their favorite founders and join their success.Raise on WefunderViews here are those of the host and the guest. Wefunder makes the show possible but doesn't control who we have on or what we say.