But perhaps even more relevantly, he is the author of two sci-fi novels on genetics, "Genesis Code" and "Eternal Sonata."As part of The Economist’s Open Future project, we asked Mr Metzl about genetic engineering, inequality and the new “liberal agenda”.Below the interview is an excerpt from his book, on the history of eugenics.* * *

The Economist: What are the ways in which people are able to "hack Darwin" today and over the next 15 years or so?Jamie Metzl: We have always fought against the inherent cruelty of natural selection, one of the two essential pillars of Darwinian evolution.We are now beginning to hack away at the second pillar, random mutation.Our growing understanding of how genes and biology function is opening the door to incredible medical applications like using genome sequencing and gene therapies to fight cancer and other diseases.But the healthcare applications of genetic technologies are only a station along the way to where these technologies are taking us.Our ability to select embryos during in vitro fertilisation (IVF)—based on informed genetic predictions of both health-related traits and intimate characteristics like height, IQ and personality style—will grow over the coming years.