Book Review: The Genius Factory

The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank by David Plotz was right up the alley of the YA novel I wrote in November of 2015. I hadn't been aware of the existence of a Nobel Prize sperm bank and was fascinated by the plunge into topics of eugenics and donor insemination. Man's quest for genetic engineering is far from over, despite the demise of this "most radical human-breeding experiment in American history." Even the Purdue president, in his commencement address at my son's graduation, alluded to the new challenges that will face the students who are graduating today, when society grows more and more determined to align DNA in such a way to wipe out illness and hone the best of our genes.

Operating under the name The Repository for Germinal Choice, this elitist sperm bank sought to provide women (of Mensa standing) with the option of manufacturing super babies - babies with the intelligence and drive of Nobel Prize winners. Surely if you pair intelligent, eager mothers with the building block genes of great scientists, mathematicians, business tycoons, and star athletes, you would expect the product to be stellar. Instead, after two decades of operation, the Repository closed (shortly after the death of the founder) and no real evidence suggests that the children bred through the Repository stand out more than others. Indeed, not a single one turned out to be from Nobel Laureate seed and many of the other donors were poorly screened, meaning they weren't all that special, after all (some lied about their IQ scores, embellished their achievements, and used their charisma to sell their sperm).

Still, the book left me with a ton to contemplate. Is nature or nurture more important? For those who knew they were the product of such a conception, were the expectations of greatness a positive or a negative influence on their lives? Is it wise to play God and try to manufacture superior genes? Or do we, as a society (as my novel concludes) benefit from the presence of the weak just as much as from the presence of the strong? In our goal to increase food quality, we've genetically modified plants, possibly to our harm. Now, we are on the cusp of genetically modified humanity. What a scary prospect! Just because something can be done, doesn't always mean it should be done. The Genius Factory was an intriguing book (although tough to listen to, again, because my husband would stumble into the exercise room where I was listening and remark on the salacious topic) and worth overlooking the discomfort presented by such terminology and ideas.