Name: 我們的智商，可能再提高嗎？ Can We Genetically Improve Intelligence?
Uploaded: 2014-04-16T13:59:38.000Z
Duration: 3 min 10 s

Whether you have an IQ of 50 or 150, 
we all like to feel smart.

After all, the minds 
of intelligent people like Einstein

Tesla or Stephen Hawking have no doubt
helped shape the world we live in.

So is it feasible that we
could genetically improve

the intelligence of our entire species? 
DNA is the basic code of life

found in every living organism, 
and this DNA is made up of genes,

which in turn are made
up of four smaller parts

called nucleic bases, represented
by the letters A, T, G and C.

In humans, these bases 
are arranged as three billion pairs,

for everything that cells 
in your body need to do.

Literally all that you are, 
from the way you look and act,

is defined by the organization 
of these four biological compounds.

And scientists have been able
to find connections

between the way genes are organized
in certain traits you exhibit,

from your sex to your eye color 
and even diseases you may develop.

It was actually the Human Genome Project
which first began to analyze and map

all the genes in the human body. 
The initial project took over a decade

and three billion dollars to complete, 
with teams across the entire globe

working together. 
Today, with a much smaller team,

the same could be accomplished
in a few days for only $4,000.

And the more sequenced genomes 
we accumulate, whether it be from plants

or microbes or humans, the more we
have to compare and contrast

the traits we see on the outside
with the gene combinations

we find on the inside. 
And that's exactly what

the Cognitive Genomics Project
hopes to achieve.

By using over 2,000 people
with IQs over 150,

and plans to bring 
on 20,000 more subjects,

researchers at the BGI Institute in China

are looking at the genetic basis
for intelligence.

In other words, they're scanning
through the DNA of thousands

of intelligent people to look for patterns
that may be responsible

for making them smart in the first place.

Of course, this is 
a much more complicated task

than looking for, say,
a disease pattern.

Tay–Sachs and Huntingtons Disease 
are both caused by a single gene mutation

and are easily recognized. 
Hair and eye color, on the other hand,

depend on multiple genes interacting,
but though with proper analysis

it can still be predicted. 
But traits like personality

or intelligence are almost certainly
the result of thousands of genes

interacting in unique ways, a pattern
which scientists have yet to discover.

And the truth is
they may never find one.

I mean, it could be 
a future of genius babies.

With the advent
of in vitro fertilization,

you might be able to create 
multiple embryos and scan their DNA.

Scientists would then be able
to identify which traits

are most likely in each embryo,
based on their genes,

allowing parents to essentially choose
which baby they most desire.

For example, this embryo 
has a 50% chance

of being exceptionally musical, 
or this one has a 58% chance

of having an IQ over 150. 
In this way, without actually changing

the genetic information, 
but rather screening it,

we may actually be able to increase
the intelligence of future generations.

But what about you? 
Could you ever change your genetic makeup

to make you smarter, faster, 
or stronger right now?

Follow us over to Jake's channel, 
Vsauce 3, where we explain

Click here or use
the link in the description.

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