http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/eugenics http://io9.com/tag/eugenics

For years, mothers wanting to screen for genetic abnormalities in their unborn children have had few options, the most common being an invasive procedure known as amniocentesis, which requires the mother's womb to be tapped with a needle. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5853246&view=rss&microfeed=true

For $149 dollars, Atlas Sports Genetics will test your child’s DNA and send you a report listing the sports where your child is likely to succeed. Some parents see it as a way to steer their child toward an activity that is a good match for their abilities. But psychologists and ethicists fear that assigning your child a sports orientation will do more harm than good. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5100576&view=rss&microfeed=true

A new pre-natal screening program in Denmark has halved the number of babies with Down's Syndrome. The success of the program, undeniably a form of eugenics, raises a number of questions about how far people should go with pre-natal screening - and what kinds of conditions merit termination of a pregnancy. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5100122&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's the perfect dating site for the personal genome age: Genepartner will take your genetic material and hook you up with people whose genetic profiles match yours. Because you wouldn't want to date somebody with a nasty genetic profile. According to the site, "Our formula is based on research on hundreds of couples and analyzes the pattern of genetic combinations found in successful relationships. Using this formula we will determine the probability for a satisfying and long-lasting romantic relationship between two people. This probability is highest when two people are genetically compatible." This is way more squicky than cloning, if you ask me. [GenePartner via MedGadget] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5028219&view=rss&microfeed=true

Yesterday the United States Congress passed the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (GINA), which bans health insurance companies and your employers from using your genetic information against you. This is a major step in the right direction, but does it go far enough to prevent a dystopian, Gattaca-style future? The new bill prevents most forms of discrimination against citizens from private industry, but what about the government? What if Congress decided they could achieve genetic purity by screening all US citizens for their diseases? No one's saying it's likely, but there are some things that don't add up* about the new bill... More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=384195&view=rss&microfeed=true

Charles Darwin first explained the principles of sexual selection in his controversial book The Descent of Man (1871). Ever since then, people have wanted to tinker with human evolution via artificial sexual selection. Dictators, mad doctors, and crazed social scientists have proposed — and even carried out — human breeding experiments aimed at improving the species. For some definition of "improving." Here are five of the most bizarre and tragic experiments with human evolution from the last century. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=361673&view=rss&microfeed=true

Corey Haim is initiated into the Rollerboys, a fascist street gang that skates down the street with synchronized arm movements, in this clip from Prayer Of The Rollerboys. Which may be the weirdest dystopian movie ever. America is collapsing, Harvard is moving to Asia, and street gangs like the Rollerboys hold all the power. But everybody has perfect NKOTB hair and Benetton clothes, and there's a John Hughes-ian romance between Corey Haim and Patricia Arquette. Another awesome Rollerboys clip, after the jump. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=352916&view=rss&microfeed=true

The quest for classic scifi texts to bring to the big screen may finally have gone too far. Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures are negotiating for the rights to film E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen novels, which are so dated that any adaptation will be either unrecognizable or unwatchable. And yet the series helped launch the whole genre of space opera, so it's easy to understand the temptation. Click through for the awful details. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=343668&view=rss&microfeed=true