With advances in genetic selection we may be able to screen the genetic make-up of embryos and reduce the prevalence of conditions such as schizophrenia and autism. Could this in fact be a retrograde step? Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge thinks so, and not just because he considers it a form of eugenics. He believes it could also deprive humanity of some crucial attributes.
Recently, Baron-Cohen and his colleagues reported that people living and working in Eindhoven - a major information technology and industry hub in Holland - are more than twice as likely to have children with autism than those living in Haarlem and Utrecht, similar-sized Dutch cities that lack the focus on technology-based industries (New Scientist, 22 June).
"Our work suggests that parents of children with autism - and who therefore carry some of the genes for autism - have talents in systemising, which has been responsible for innovation in fields like science, mathematics, music, technology, art and engineering," he says.
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