Sci-Fi Just Became Required Reading for Deep Tech VCs
The 1997 sci-fi film "Gattaca" actually came true this week -- tweaking the DNA of IVF embryos to "bring out the best" of the parents. Were you ready?
Last Friday, TechCrunch’s article about Nucleus Genomics embryo selection tool didn’t just read like news—it read like Gattaca. Not in a “some day in the distant future” kind of way. More like: today, right now, in your fertility clinic’s terms of service.
For those who haven’t seen Gattaca (1997), it’s a film starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman that’s set in a near-future world where prospective parents can “optimize” their child’s genetic profile—selecting for intelligence, emotional stability, height, eye color. Sound familiar? In one scene from the movie, a geneticist reassures anxious future parents:
“You want to give your child the best possible start. Believe me, we have enough imperfection built-in already. Your child doesn’t need any additional burdens. And keep in mind, this child is still you, simply the best of you. You could conceive naturally a thousand times and never get such a result.”
That’s the sci-fi magic: wrapping a morally messy idea in something that sounds almost… responsible. Fast-forward to 2025, and Nucleus (not a Ubiquity company) is using similar logic to justify choosing “the best embryo” based on projected IQ or reduced risk of anxiety.
“Required Reading” for VC investors
I’m increasingly of the opinion that science fiction should be required reading/watching for modern VCs—especially those of us investing in deep tech. The best speculative fiction isn’t about teleportation or time travel. It’s about what happens next. About unintended consequences. About what the world looks like after your next portfolio company launches.
Take the Nextflix smash hit show “Black Mirror”. It debuted in 2011—14 years ago—and in that time, many of its plots have gone from “disturbing vision” to “now available in beta.” One early episode imagined a society where everyone rates each other socially in real time. China tried it. In my favorite episode “White Christmas”, they explore AI replicas of individuals created by scanning their memories and routines. Today, that sounds like someone fine-tuning GPT on their emails, texts, and calendar to build a digital twin. But if that twin is good enough to act for you… how long before we ask whether it deserves rights? Or empathy?
As investors in the frontier, we have a responsibility to look beyond product-market fit. Sci-fi is more than entertainment—it’s a forecasting tool. One that helps us stress-test the societal ripples of the technology we’re backing.
Because the future doesn’t just sneak up on us anymore. It refreshes in real time.
Ubiquity Ventures — led by Sunil Nagaraj — is a seed-stage venture capital firm focused on startups solving real-world physical problems with "software beyond the screen", often using smart hardware or machine learning.
If your startup fits this description, fill out the 60-second Ubiquity pitch form and you’ll hear back within 24 hours.