'Observer' Lessons in Home Eugenics Grow Ever Less-Shocking

• “Brave New Boutique: Baby Sex Selection Sold On East Side,” July 24, 2006: “Given the aggressive fertility of New York’s breeding set, it was only a matter of time before the joys of elective sex-selection took root in the Land of Milk and Bugaboos, the epicenter of the Gen-X/Y baby boomlet, New York City.”

• “Genetic Engineering for the Preteen Set,” March 30, 2010: “Atlas, a Boulder, Colo., company that previously specialized in growth supplements, last year introduced a take-at-home test that detects the presence of a variant of the ACTN3 gene that blocks the expression of the alpha-actinin-e protein. This protein, expressed in both copies of the gene, one from each parent, is associated with fast-twitch muscle movements and is present in a high percentage of elite athletes…. What Atlas seems to be offering, in other words, is the possibility that you can ascertain the likelihood that the junior-with-the-good-jump-shot is 9 years old going on Lebron.”