# Lee Silver **Domain:** Genetics / Reproductive Technology / Bioethics **Doc Type:** Thinker Node **Maturity:** Developing ## Definition **Lee Silver** is a geneticist and author of *Remaking Eden* who discussed assisted reproduction, inherited traits, and the prospect of deliberate human evolutionary change in a PBS FRONTLINE interview for *Making Babies*. PBS identifies him as a Princeton professor of genetics at the time of the interview; this is a source-time role, not a claim about his current appointment. ## Reproductive Technology Position Silver predicted that reproductive technology could let people influence their species' future. In the same interview he said genes alter probabilities rather than guarantee traits, described himself as both excited and frightened, and identified unequal access as a serious issue. His claim about future control is a forecast, not a description of achieved precision or universal agreement. ## Relationships - **Argues within:** [[wiki/Self-Directed Evolution|Self-Directed Evolution]] — Silver's prediction is one account of intentional reproductive change. - **Discusses mechanisms adjacent to:** [[wiki/Embryo Selection|Embryo Selection]] and [[wiki/Selected Reproduction|Selected Reproduction]] — reproductive choice must be distinguished from editing and deterministic control of traits. - **Collection and article routes:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] and [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] provide broader human-evolution context; their presence is thematic routing, not evidence of Silver's involvement with either project. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "But we're going to control our evolution. Not nature. Not the environment. We are going to control the evolution of our species." > **— Lee Silver**, *PBS FRONTLINE, “Making Babies” interview* [[reminders/Evolution/We Will Control the Evolution of Our Species by Lee Silver|We Will Control the Evolution of Our Species by Lee Silver]] ## Sources / Provenance - [PBS FRONTLINE, “Making Babies,” Lee Silver interview](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fertility/interviews/silver.html) — interview statement and surrounding explanation of access, uncertainty, and ambivalence. - [PBS FRONTLINE, “Making Babies,” broadcast transcript](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fertility/etc/script.html) — edited broadcast wording differs from the interview transcript.