The article by Robert Sparrow:
A series of recent scientific results suggest that, in the not-too-distant future, it will be possible to create viable human gametes from human stem cells. This paper discusses the potential of this technology to make possible what I call ‘in vitro eugenics’: the deliberate breeding of human beings in vitro by fusing sperm and egg derived from different stem-cell lines to create an embryo and then deriving new gametes from stem cells derived from that embryo. Repeated iterations of this process would allow scientists to proceed through multiple human generations in the laboratory. In vitro eugenics might be used to study the heredity of genetic disorders and to produce cell lines of a desired character for medical applications. More controversially, it might also function as a powerful technology of ‘human enhancement’ by allowing researchers to use all the techniques of selective breeding to produce individuals with a desired genotype.
Quote:
However, to my knowledge, the current paper is the first to explicitly discuss the possibility of the iterative use of this technology for reproductive purposes
The possibility was discussed in MIRI's "Uncertain Future" toy forecasting model back in 2009, and the analysis formulated a few years before that.
ETA: And further discussed in James Miller's recent book, "Singularity Rising."
This Slate article talks about the issues that children of sperm donors have dealing with the fact that they don't know their biological father. Maybe we should prioritize the discovery of genes related to mental health, happiness, etc. so that eugenically bred kids will be cool with the fact that they aren't very closely related to their parents. (I assume adopted kids deal with similar issues, and some of them probably deal with their issues better than others... could a large-scale genetic analysis be useful?)
(Also breed them for humility and compassion so they won't be stuck-up despite knowing for a fact that they are just plain better than everyone?)
Being cool with not being directly related to your parents is a question of values, not mental health or intelligence.