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,

which essentially act as a blueprint

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.

But what happens if they do?

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

how it might be possible.

Click here or use the link in the description.

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