What do you think?
Rate this book
Our Genetic Future: The Unintended Consequences of Overcoming Natural Selection
Author's I am a physician with 35 years of experience and a background in evolutionary biology, and I am deeply concerned about the effects of modern culture and technology on our future genetic health. Time is running out, yet most of my colleagues know nothing about the harmful effects of overcoming natural selection. I am committed to raise consciousness of this problem among healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the general public.
"This book is a fascinating exposition of a phenomenon that has received little attention in either the scientific or popular press. The author argues convincingly that advances in human health and medicine, as well as our conquering of environmental conditions that threaten individual survival, have led to human population growth and consequently relaxed natural selection on adverse genetic mutations. By walking the reader through basic human genetics in a way that is easily accessible to the layperson, he shows us the expected consequences of this relaxed the accumulation of deleterious mutations that, while not threatening human existence, will make our lives more difficult and less pleasant and will potentially increase social inequities with respect to who has access to treatment for genetic diseases. While there are no magic bullets to prevent this genetic deterioration, the author presents several ethical suggestions for ways to mitigate it. A must read for anyone interested in humanity’s future."
- Mark Rausher, Professor of Biology, Duke University
The genetic viability of our species is at risk. Three major events in human history have altered the trajectory of human genetic evolution, with lasting effects. First, we migrated out of Africa, ultimately colonizing the entire planet. Second, we developed agricultural societies which allowed local populations to grow and become more sedentary. Most concerning, we have learned how to control and modify our environments to such a degree that most of the historical mechanisms of natural selection no longer apply to us.
In Our Genetic Future, Dr. William S. Blau MD, PhD provides a roadmap to understanding the genetic impact of each of these events. Are we still evolving? What is our future genetic fate in the setting of unprecedented cultural/technological advances combined with the profound growth of our global species? Is our genome improving or are there unforeseen consequences of our success that threaten our continued survival? What can we do to avoid genetic deterioration? This fascinating and illuminating book seeks to provide answers to these questions and more - a must-read for anyone concerned about the genetic fate of the human species.
“Although this is a non-fiction that contains research, you cannot mistake this for a boring textbook. The discussion in this book tends to bring up interesting ideas and points that make me want to investigate further beyond its pages… It is well-organized and thought-provoking. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a lover of anything biology”.
- Nuris Brand, Discovery (
"This book is a fascinating exposition of a phenomenon that has received little attention in either the scientific or popular press. The author argues convincingly that advances in human health and medicine, as well as our conquering of environmental conditions that threaten individual survival, have led to human population growth and consequently relaxed natural selection on adverse genetic mutations. By walking the reader through basic human genetics in a way that is easily accessible to the layperson, he shows us the expected consequences of this relaxed the accumulation of deleterious mutations that, while not threatening human existence, will make our lives more difficult and less pleasant and will potentially increase social inequities with respect to who has access to treatment for genetic diseases. While there are no magic bullets to prevent this genetic deterioration, the author presents several ethical suggestions for ways to mitigate it. A must read for anyone interested in humanity’s future."
- Mark Rausher, Professor of Biology, Duke University
The genetic viability of our species is at risk. Three major events in human history have altered the trajectory of human genetic evolution, with lasting effects. First, we migrated out of Africa, ultimately colonizing the entire planet. Second, we developed agricultural societies which allowed local populations to grow and become more sedentary. Most concerning, we have learned how to control and modify our environments to such a degree that most of the historical mechanisms of natural selection no longer apply to us.
In Our Genetic Future, Dr. William S. Blau MD, PhD provides a roadmap to understanding the genetic impact of each of these events. Are we still evolving? What is our future genetic fate in the setting of unprecedented cultural/technological advances combined with the profound growth of our global species? Is our genome improving or are there unforeseen consequences of our success that threaten our continued survival? What can we do to avoid genetic deterioration? This fascinating and illuminating book seeks to provide answers to these questions and more - a must-read for anyone concerned about the genetic fate of the human species.
“Although this is a non-fiction that contains research, you cannot mistake this for a boring textbook. The discussion in this book tends to bring up interesting ideas and points that make me want to investigate further beyond its pages… It is well-organized and thought-provoking. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a lover of anything biology”.
- Nuris Brand, Discovery (
- GenresGenetics
228 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 25, 2023
5 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 16, 2025
SPOILER WARNING
This book is a blackpill. It is a visceral account of what adverse health outcomes modern and future populations may be in for; the price to be paid for the privileges of low mortality and longevity conferred to us by modern medicine.
That being said, Dr. Blau gives a rather concise and accessible overview of what Kondrashov (2017) similarly calls 'the Main Concern' of dysgenics. Dysgenics describes the phenomenon of deleterious genetic variants accumulating favourably in a population. Industrialisation and modern medicine has changed human fitness parameters so drastically such that many of the selection pressures (i.e. disease) that were acting on preindustrial populations are said to be 'relaxed'. The opportunity arises for individuals with previously 'suboptimal' genotypes to survive and reproduce. The result of dysgenics is generally undesirable, with increased incidence of chronic genetic disorders, greater variance in susceptibility to communicable diseases, dysgenic selection for lower intelligence, population-level subfertility, etc. Dr. Blau provides a generous amount of interesting references and evidence for such claims in the chapters therein.
Perhaps the most interesting (and yet again, blackpilling) chapter for me was the 'Implications for Infertility'. In a seemingly paradoxical way, the chapter conveys how fertility interventions via assisted reproductive technology (ART) like IVF and ICSI (sperm injections straight into the egg) might inadvertently promote long-term subfertility in human populations. This is because infertile couples are of course, the primary clients for ART, of which infertility can have a substantial genetic basis. It is concerning that our pro-natal interventions that aim to buffer impending population decline in developed countries have antagonistic effects on population-level fitness.
Additionally, some relevant quantitative genetics concepts are mentioned in passing, like the human mutation load. Provided that there is a male bias to the germline mutational load (Jónsson et al., 2017), in which older fathers contribute more spontaneous mutations to offspring because of more sperm cell divisions, it is concerning that with trends in delayed childbirth (correlating with older paternal age), future generations are on the trajectory for 'dysfunction'. De novo variants are implicated in conditions like autism and schizophrenia, so we'd be in for a more neurodiverse future if we are to do nothing about this.
Finally, it is very reassuring to me that people in medicine are now highlighting this issue, hopefully giving it the mainstream attention it deserves. Dr. Blau in writing this has echoed the intellectual legacy of past evolutionary geneticists who shared the same worry about our genetic future. I'd like to end my review with a vision from one of those evolutionary geneticists, W.D. Hamilton, offering a window into the future of the Welfare State - the Great Planetary Hospital:
"
'Do not question my value; buy me and believe your doctor' is stamped in effect on most pills. The ancient king didn't say what he was mixing with his gold; the modern drug companies and the medical freemasonry don't show either. Perhaps deliberately they avoid imagining the future they are leading us too. It's the future in which metastable people will be saying: 'Don't question my beauty, marry me. Let the Hospital manage whatever may come of the things I haven't told you. Aren't I fixed well enough for your taste - hasn't every one had their teeth straightened, their insulin fixed? Isn't every one the same?'
"
REFERENCES:
Hamilton, W.D. (2001) ‘The Hospitals are Coming: Sex and disease’, in W.D. Hamilton (ed.) Narrow Roads of Gene Land. Oxford University Press.
Jónsson, H. et al. (2017) ‘Parental influence on human germline de novo mutations in 1,548 trios from Iceland’, Nature, 549(7673), pp. 519–522.
Kondrashov, A.S. (2017) Crumbling Genome: The Impact of Deleterious Mutations on Humans. John Wiley & Sons.
This book is a blackpill. It is a visceral account of what adverse health outcomes modern and future populations may be in for; the price to be paid for the privileges of low mortality and longevity conferred to us by modern medicine.
That being said, Dr. Blau gives a rather concise and accessible overview of what Kondrashov (2017) similarly calls 'the Main Concern' of dysgenics. Dysgenics describes the phenomenon of deleterious genetic variants accumulating favourably in a population. Industrialisation and modern medicine has changed human fitness parameters so drastically such that many of the selection pressures (i.e. disease) that were acting on preindustrial populations are said to be 'relaxed'. The opportunity arises for individuals with previously 'suboptimal' genotypes to survive and reproduce. The result of dysgenics is generally undesirable, with increased incidence of chronic genetic disorders, greater variance in susceptibility to communicable diseases, dysgenic selection for lower intelligence, population-level subfertility, etc. Dr. Blau provides a generous amount of interesting references and evidence for such claims in the chapters therein.
Perhaps the most interesting (and yet again, blackpilling) chapter for me was the 'Implications for Infertility'. In a seemingly paradoxical way, the chapter conveys how fertility interventions via assisted reproductive technology (ART) like IVF and ICSI (sperm injections straight into the egg) might inadvertently promote long-term subfertility in human populations. This is because infertile couples are of course, the primary clients for ART, of which infertility can have a substantial genetic basis. It is concerning that our pro-natal interventions that aim to buffer impending population decline in developed countries have antagonistic effects on population-level fitness.
Additionally, some relevant quantitative genetics concepts are mentioned in passing, like the human mutation load. Provided that there is a male bias to the germline mutational load (Jónsson et al., 2017), in which older fathers contribute more spontaneous mutations to offspring because of more sperm cell divisions, it is concerning that with trends in delayed childbirth (correlating with older paternal age), future generations are on the trajectory for 'dysfunction'. De novo variants are implicated in conditions like autism and schizophrenia, so we'd be in for a more neurodiverse future if we are to do nothing about this.
Finally, it is very reassuring to me that people in medicine are now highlighting this issue, hopefully giving it the mainstream attention it deserves. Dr. Blau in writing this has echoed the intellectual legacy of past evolutionary geneticists who shared the same worry about our genetic future. I'd like to end my review with a vision from one of those evolutionary geneticists, W.D. Hamilton, offering a window into the future of the Welfare State - the Great Planetary Hospital:
"
'Do not question my value; buy me and believe your doctor' is stamped in effect on most pills. The ancient king didn't say what he was mixing with his gold; the modern drug companies and the medical freemasonry don't show either. Perhaps deliberately they avoid imagining the future they are leading us too. It's the future in which metastable people will be saying: 'Don't question my beauty, marry me. Let the Hospital manage whatever may come of the things I haven't told you. Aren't I fixed well enough for your taste - hasn't every one had their teeth straightened, their insulin fixed? Isn't every one the same?'
"
REFERENCES:
Hamilton, W.D. (2001) ‘The Hospitals are Coming: Sex and disease’, in W.D. Hamilton (ed.) Narrow Roads of Gene Land. Oxford University Press.
Jónsson, H. et al. (2017) ‘Parental influence on human germline de novo mutations in 1,548 trios from Iceland’, Nature, 549(7673), pp. 519–522.
Kondrashov, A.S. (2017) Crumbling Genome: The Impact of Deleterious Mutations on Humans. John Wiley & Sons.
November 23, 2023
A well-researched and thought-provoking dive into the effects of relaxed natural selection on human health. Cultural, technological, and medical advancements of the modern era have allowed humans to negate the historically dominant “survival of the fittest” principle in many ways. Dr. Blau takes us on an exploration of the genetic underpinnings of this concept and forces us to consider the implications of overcoming natural selection.
As a veterinarian, I am fascinated by this concept of how human experiences and actions directly lead to genetic shifts in the population – a concept that can be applied across species (for example, in dog breeding). Many of us in the scientific and medical community are familiar with the One Health initiative (“a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach…with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment” – cdc.gov). I believe the discussion of the interplay between changing society, natural selection, and genetics presented by Dr. Blau should play a key role in ongoing One Health conversations. Our Genetic Future is a great resource to help foster those conversations by providing the necessary background of our genetic history and explaining our current understanding of the interplay between genes and health.
As a veterinarian, I am fascinated by this concept of how human experiences and actions directly lead to genetic shifts in the population – a concept that can be applied across species (for example, in dog breeding). Many of us in the scientific and medical community are familiar with the One Health initiative (“a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach…with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment” – cdc.gov). I believe the discussion of the interplay between changing society, natural selection, and genetics presented by Dr. Blau should play a key role in ongoing One Health conversations. Our Genetic Future is a great resource to help foster those conversations by providing the necessary background of our genetic history and explaining our current understanding of the interplay between genes and health.
July 2, 2024
This book was easy to read and understand without a scientific background, and the author is very good at explaining complicated genetic concepts. I previously had a lot of knowledge in genetics so it wasn't as informative for me, but the application of the concepts was interesting and insightful. I've often wondered about human genome changes due to relaxed selection as a result of advancing technology, and this book clearly shows that those effects are already apparent and concerning. The author acknowledges the ethical concerns with eugenics, but also demonstrates the consequences of ignoring the genetic changes that have been driven by our evolving society.
December 9, 2023
This was a well-researched and interesting read. It can be read by anyone whether you are a scholar or not. The author provides some interesting points and perspectives on the future of the human species. Evolution is a difficult topic to tackle but I believe the author did it well.
Read a more in-depth review on my blog.
https://www.lepetitewriter.blog/post/...
Read a more in-depth review on my blog.
https://www.lepetitewriter.blog/post/...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews