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Can Embryo Selection Save the World?
Mingrui Wang
Published: 2026/06/01
Abstract
In modern societies, purifying selection against deleterious mutations has been relaxed and the relationship between reproductive success and cognitive ability has reversed. Early 20th-century geneticists warned that the resulting genetic decline in cognitive and physical health poses a severe threat to civilization. Many today argue that reproductive biotechnologies—including polygenic embryo selection—offer a sufficient “technological fix” for the declining genetic baseline, but this premise raises serious scientific concerns. This paper synthesizes findings from psychometrics, quantitative genomics, evolutionary biology, immunology, and agricultural breeding to evaluate the systemic and biological limitations of these interventions. By examining the highly polygenic architecture of intelligence, the steady accumulation of de novo mutations, and the phenomenon of antagonistic pleiotropy, this review demonstrates that relying on current or anticipated future advancements in these technologies to engineer complex traits is fundamentally flawed. The analysis reaches four main conclusions: (1) Reproductive technologies can remove some severe mutations. (2) They cannot repair the deterioration of the genetic baseline caused by minor-effect rare variants and de novo mutations. (3) Aggressively targeting intelligence for genotypic selection risks severe unintended consequences, such as depleting historically preserved genetic diversity and compromising immune system resilience. (4) A “perfect” gene-editing system capable of eliminating de novo mutations would halt human evolution. This review urges caution regarding reproductive biotechnologies that aggressively aim to maximize specific polygenic traits.
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