Dominic Cummings called for ‘designer babies’ on NHS
Experts say Johnson’s aide misunderstood ‘key concepts’
Boris Johnson’s controversial aide Dominic Cummings once suggested that the NHS should cover the cost of selecting babies to have higher IQs.
In a blog post on “designer babies”, Cummings said he believed rich couples would inevitably select embryos with “the highest prediction for IQ”. He also proposed that “a national health system should fund everybody to do this” to avoid an unfair advantage for rich would-be parents.
The post, written in 2014 after Cummings had attended a Silicon Valley science conference at Google, said: “Once we identify a substantial number of IQ genes, there is no obvious reason why rich people will not select the egg that has the highest prediction for IQ.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“This clearly raises many big questions. If the poor cannot do the same, then the rich could quickly embed advantages and society could become not only more unequal but also based on biological classes. One response is that if this sort of thing does become possible, then a national health system should fund everybody to do this.”
However, experts say Cummings does not understand the science of the matter. David Curtis, an honorary professor in the UCL Genetics Institute at University College London, told The Guardian that Johnson’s aide had “fundamentally misunderstood key concepts in genetics and his suggestions are wildly unrealistic”.
Bobbie Farsides, a professor of clinical and biomedical ethics at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, said: “It would be such a huge step away from the fundamental values that inform embryo selection at the moment that it’s almost inconceivable. We are so many million miles away from this being on the agenda.”
Cummings has written about eugenics in a separate post. In a 2013 piece, he cited research that concluded that discovering “genes responsible for general cognitive ability and specific abilities and disabilities” would “enable truly personalised education including early intervention for specific learning difficulties”.
The latest row comes days after Cummings hit the headlines over his appointment of Andrew Sabisky, who has claimed in the past that black Americans have a lower than average IQ than white Americans and are more likely to have an “intellectual disability”. Sabisky has since stood down.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Duchy Files: how bad is the scandal for King Charles?
Today's Big Question Making millions in rent from the NHS and armed forces a 'PR disaster' for royal family
By The Week UK Published
-
'A stark choice'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Vietnamese migrants crossing the Channel
The Explainer 2024 has seen a surge in the numbers of Vietnamese migrants making the illegal passage into the UK
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Tamils stranded on 'secretive' British island in Indian Ocean
Under the Radar Migrants 'unlawfully detained' since 2021 shipwreck on UK-controlled Diego Garcia, site of important US military base
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Labour's first week in power
In the Spotlight The NHS, prisons and housing are at the top of a to-do list which risks crashing into 'wall of economic reality'
By The Week UK Published
-
Britain's Labour Party wins in a landslide
Speed Read The Conservatives were unseated after 14 years of rule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published