Will the state eugenics program make the Chinese smarter?
As part of a government-approved program, Chinese scientists from the BGI Shenzhen Research Center collected DNA samples from 2,000 contemporaries who are considered the smartest people on our planet. The purpose of this is to identify the genetic alleles responsible for outstanding intelligence. If successful, potential parents will be able to choose the most "smart" embryos from the embryos fertilized in the laboratory. Experts believe that this approach will increase the intelligence quotient (IQ) of each subsequent generation by 5-15 points.
Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist from New York University, one of 2,000 minds who shared their DNA with the Chinese, commented in detail on this stunning project.
According to Miller, in the late 70s of the last century, when Deng Xiaoping came to power in China, the government's priorities shifted from trying to control the economy to trying to control the quantity and quality of the population. In the 90s, it introduced widespread prenatal screening, the purpose of which is to identify developmental defects, and in recent years has begun to invest huge sums in the search for a genetic formula for powerful intelligence.
The approach chosen by the Chinese has nothing to do with human genetic engineering. The parents will choose the embryos that appeared as a result of fertilization of the mother's own eggs with the father's sperm. As a result, the child who was born will be 100% their own, but he will have the highest possible intelligence that his parents are able to give him. Obviously, if this method starts to be applied everywhere, with each generation the population of China will become noticeably smarter.
Miller also notes that it may not take many years for Chinese specialists to implement this hypothetical approach. The fact is that, despite equal opportunities, in the field of genetics, Western science has already lagged far behind Chinese. The reason lies in the ideology and religiosity of Western civilization, which adheres to the principles of non-interference in what nature and God have created. Miller believes that, unlike Europeans and Americans, in response to the proposal to introduce genetic screening, 95% of Chinese will confidently say that "of course, we must make our children healthier, happier and smarter at the genetic level."
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on VICE: China Is Engineering Genius Babies.
29.03.2013