What is "dysgenics"

dysgenics \dysgenics\ n. the study of the operation of factors causing degeneration in the type of offspring produced.

Syn: cacogenics.

n. cacogenics

n. the study of the operation of factors causing degeneration in the type of offspring produced [syn: cacogenics] [ant: eugenics]

Dysgenics (also known as cacogenics ) is the study of factors producing the accumulation and perpetuation of defective or disadvantageous genes and traits in offspring of a particular population or species.

The adjective "dysgenic" is the antonym of " eugenic". It was first used c. 1915 by David Starr Jordan, describing the supposed dysgenic effects of World War I. Jordan believed that healthy men were as likely to die in modern warfare as anyone else, and that war killed only the physically healthy men of the populace whilst preserving the disabled at home.

Dysgenic mutations have been studied in animals such as the mouse and the fruit fly.

In the context of human genetics, a dysgenic effect is the projected or observed tendency of a reduction in selection pressures and decreased infant mortality since the Industrial Revolution resulting in the increased propagation of deleterious traits and genetic disorders. Richard Lynn in his Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations (1996) identified three main concerns: deterioration in health, in intelligence and in conscientiousness.