Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson has warned society may face a divide between the "genetic have and genetic have nots" as wealthier people opt to create healthier babies.
Asked about the gap between rich and poor in access to health services, Professor Robson said the rising use of IVF technologies could lead to a genetic divide where wealthier people could pick embryos which have a lower risk of disease.
Those less well off would be locked out of accessing the technology, which can run into the hundreds of thousands.
"The big divide is going to come when people use technologies like IVF to select embryos ... which reduce the risk of disease and that is the basis of the next generation," Prof Robson told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.
"We're seeing this in America at the moment ... so we'll have genetic haves and genetic have nots, and that's the next frontier.
"If we get to that stage as a society we're in trouble."
