Who's your daddy?

Recently read a book that I had randomly picked up, The Genius Factory, by David Poltz, which is based on a series of articles he wrote for Slate. It reads like something straight out of science fiction but describes what are probably the most bizarre experiments ever carried out on humans in history.
The Repository for Germinal Choice a.k.a the 'Nobel' sperm bank boasted on its roster, donors from the ranks of Nobel-laureates, scientists, etc. Robert Graham, a man with extra moolah and a whole lot of screwed-up ideas in his head started it since he reckoned that the developed world (read America) was going to the dogs and the best way to fix the rot was to impregnate women with sperm donated by hyper-achievers (but only white). In other words, this whole eugenics experiment was a blatantly racist venture of the kind advocated by Nazi Germany in the middle of the last century.
While it existed, the 'genius factory' produced hundreds of children.The book explores what happened to them,how offspring from the same donors ended up going on vastly different paths, women who wondered for decades about the unknown donors, did the children really turn out as brilliant as they were expected to be?
The book opens up a Pandora's box of ethical questions...can kids really be 'programmed' to succeed in life? Or does the environment in which they are nurtured play a greater role? .....all said....an interesting read.
Next up.....Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai.......for the simple reason that I haven't been able to mooch a free copy of her Man Booker-winning Inheritance of Loss....yet.
(Caption/Image:www.thegeniusfactory.net)