Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Genetic manipulation of the embryo

I was in the car listening to a report that they were within 10 years of manipulating the embryo to pick one with enhanced intelligence. It is like listening to the advances made for increased longevity. The poor are not going to get these advances. We are within 10 years of serious division within the classes. It is seriously scarey.

I think that division is already here.

1) Identifying an embryo with enhanced intelligence would seem to indicate that a gene has been found which correlates with higher intelligence? Ancestry, 23andMe, etc, might be expected to begin assessing for this in the samples received, and sharing results to members?

2) Choosing an embryo for it's level of intelligence brings to mind the opening chapter(s) of the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1931/1932), summarized by SparkNotes here, and also in a 2-minute video by SparkNotes.

In this SagePub article from 2003, John H. Evans discusses the concept:
a brave new world? how genetic technology could change us

Not all would agree that embryo selection is a benefit:

To the degree that selecting one embryo means de-selecting other embryos, resulting in their death, both this research and the option to exercise such a process personally may not be seen as desirable for those who regard God as our creator and author of life and death.

To the degree that our society treats the gifted poorly (as outliers whose academic growth is to be capped, closing achievement gaps and excellence gaps, in order to report achieving equal outcomes for all pupils) choosing an embryo for high intelligence may not be seen as a desirable activity or a competitive advantage for many families.

The US does not have a caste society, but a fluid society in which many have been able to achieve "The American Dream" of being upwardly mobile. Education and a strong work ethic have made it possible for many families to move up from poverty in just a generation or two.

I interact with geneticists in my work sometimes, and based on what I know from those collaborations, this kind of report is extremely implausible to me. Most complex traits are massively polygenic, and even if you can identify all of the hundreds of genes involved in their manifestation, you're going to be predicting at most a couple percent of variation in the outcome.

If I were going to worry about this outcome, I'd worry much more about assortative mating as a cause.