The Market Society IV - Designer Babies, Intelligent Reproduction and The Market for DNA
By now you have heard of the controversy around gene editing. A scientist in China has controversially edited the genes of a human without the consent of that human. The majority of scientists in my opinion rightfully condemned this action because at this time the process of gene editing is not well understood or considered safe. Because we have not yet mastered the process we have the problem of scientist(s) doing an experiment without the consent of the subject(s). In my opinion if there is a moral hierarchy being produced by the scientific community then it must consider the possible sentiment and well-being of participants in the experiment.
On the other hand if these processes can be made safe then what does it mean for the mating market? The mating market as defined in biological market theory is what is behind the process we call natural selection.
Market Forces and The Emergence of Intelligent Reproductive Strategies
Now that it is understood that markets are everywhere in nature and that mating markets are behind what we call “sexual selection”, consider the possible impact of our technology on these mating markets? Because I don’t see many people talking about it nor is there an obvious phrase to explain it, I’ll introduce the phrase “intelligent reproduction” into the lexicon to allow for this discussion. An intelligent reproduction strategy is a mating strategy which goes beyond the instinctive motivations of the brain. In my opinion these intelligent reproductive strategies will emerge as our understanding of genetics become more widespread.
In a genetically literate society we may for example see reproductive consultants emerge from the market offering services which leverage the latest technologies in support of intelligent reproduction. Genetic reproduction consultants for example could help people to decide the risks associated with reproducing with a potential partner. This could have a major impact on how people choose partners because instead of only superficial genes being a part of the mating market we will have much more precision.
The precision reproduction market in my opinion is the likely ultimate result of our current trajectory of technological progress. This precision reproduction market will change how human beings think about family planning. As reproduction becomes both more intelligent and precise we will eventually see markets form for “good” genes. Good of course is an arbitrary definition in a lot of cases but support we discover exactly the combination of genes responsible for extraordinary longevity? These longevity genes might be in great demand. What if gene editing is illegal but these known genes become in great demand?
In biological market theory we would expect that people who have these genes for longevity might become more attractive for people looking to reproduce. We might first see this with sperm banks which might offer premium payments to donors who can show they have the right combination of genes. We might also see mating patterns adapt once this new knowledge diffuses to the genetically literate. In other words the new era of genetic literacy could alter trends in mating by changing what people look for in a mate or more importantly how people look at each other.
The traditional way animals assess fitness is by physical appearance. People often rank others by physical appearance because this was the only thing a person could know about another person using their primitive senses. In a world of big data, where genomes are sequenced, things might change quickly and dramatically. The concept of “good breeding” is not traditionally precise, but if an algorithm analyzes a series of genes or if the genetics of a potential partner must exceed a certain measurable threshold then what impact could this have?
People might say precision reproduction is a form of eugenics. Some might decide to follow their instincts and go the natural route. We could see a divide between people who choose to follow traditional assessment methods in choosing who to reproduce with and people who leverage machine intelligence, consultants, and pop-science information. We also have to understand that this reliance on science opens up an attack vector where disinformation can have a much more negative impact as well (fake science) and for this reason there will likely be many political controversies about which science is the accurate science.
The Market for “Good Genes”
We know we are in a market society once we have a deep understanding on how markets impact natural selection. We know already that mating markets exist or at least that is what certain researchers are saying. If we know mating markets exist and if the market participants are becoming increasingly more intelligent over time or if those participants simply have access to an explosion of intelligence (similar to the cambrian explosion) then we could expect that explosion of intelligence to have some impact.
I’m not saying I know what the impact will be. I’m not saying whether the behaviors we see in these markets will be moral or immoral. What I see is that there is a projected and predictable increase in demand for “good genes” and the ability to identify “good genes” will only increase as genetic literacy increases. The process of determining “fitness” will evolve in my opinion with the technology. As the technology enables more advanced processes for determining “fitness” then we might see “physical attraction” on a different level, not just on the level of how the nose on a person looks aesthetically but how their nose functions based on their genetics.
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References
Lee, J., & Wang, F. (2018). Gene-Edited Baby by Chinese Scientist.
Noë, R., & Hammerstein, P. (1995). Biological markets. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 10(8), 336-339.
Pawłwski, B., & Dunbar, R. I. (1999). Impact of market value on human mate choice decisions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 266(1416), 281-285.