Review: The End of Sex

Legal expert Henry Greely envisions a world in which advances in biotechnology obviate the need for sexual reproduction as we know it.

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

From Brave New World to Gattaca, writers and filmmakers have long imagined how reproductive technology might reshape humanity. In the real world, advances in genomics, stem cells, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) could make it possible within the next few decades to remove the genetic ambiguity of sexual reproduction, enabling couples to have children who are not only free from deadly diseases, but also possess carefully selected physical and mental characteristics. In The End of Sex and the Future of Human Reproduction, law professor Henry Greely of Stanford University explores the scientific, legal, and ethical consequences of this quasi-inevitable future.

The book is about “the coming obsolescence of sex,” Greely notes in the introduction. Although people will continue to have recreational intercourse, “I expect that, sometime in the next 20 to 40 years, among humans with good health coverage, sex, in one sense, will largely disappear, or at least decrease ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio 
Zymo Research

Zymo Research Launches Microbiome Grant to Support Innovation in Microbial Sciences