Media interest in genetic technology spiked dramatically after Scottish scientists announced in 1997 that they had successfully cloned an adult sheep. Speculation about the production of cloned humans was prominent in coverage of "Dolly."

But the overwhelming public sentiment against human cloning did not deter advocates of human genetic manipulation. A small group of influential scientists and other advocates of a "techno-eugenic" future began concerted publicity efforts, including conferences, media appearances, and publications.

At the beginning of 2000, a flurry of turn-of-the-millennium articles discussed the imminence of human genetic manipulation. National television news shows gave air time to key advocates of a "post-human future."

The tone and message of these accounts were remarkably consistent. The majority took perfunctory note of possible ethical questions, but as often as not directly or indirectly implied that development and use of these technologies was "inevitable." Some news stories and articles were straightforwardly celebratory.

"Superhumans: Like it or not, in a few short years we'll have the power to control our own evolution," announced the subhead of this article in New Scientist, a popular British science magazine distributed both in the UK and the US. A dismembered baby illustrates the article.
Robert Taylor, "Superhumans" New Scientist (October 3, 1998)

"It is only a matter of time….Genetic engineers are preparing to cross what has long been an ethical Rubicon….How soon might we design our children? The necessary pieces are quickly falling into place." This Newsweek article is accompanied by a picture of an attractive Caucasian baby.
Sharon Begley, "Designer Babies," Newsweek (November 9, 1998)
http://www.ess.ucla.edu/huge/newsweek.html

"Parents may go to fertility clinics and pick from a list of options the way car buyers order air conditioning and chrome-alloy wheels." The smiling baby adorning this story is ensconced in a space suit.
Michael D. Lemonick, "Designer Babies," Time (January 11, 1999)
http://www.colband.com.br/ativ/nete/
biot/textos/genetica/006.htm

In August 1999, ABC's Nightline in Primetime featured Lee Silver, author of this key popular book advocating human genetic manipulation. As in his book, Silver asserted that the emergence of "GenRich" and "Natural" genetic castes is inevitable.
Lee Silver, Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World (New York: Avon Books, 1997)

The September 13, 1999 Time cover featured the "The I.Q. Gene" after scientists at Princeton University announced that they had genetically engineered mice with improved memories, and that this enhancement was passed on to the mice's offspring. The media's major interest was in the potential for human applications. Time's two stories were titled "Smart Genes? A new study sheds light on how memory works and raises questions about whether we should use genetics to make people brainier" and "If We Have it, Do We Use It?"

The fourth-quarter 1999 issue of Scientific American Presents was titled "Your Bionic Future: How technology will change the way you live in the next millennium." Among the stories featured were "The Clone Next Door," "An End to Aging," "Design Your Own Baby," "Artificial Wombs," and "Downloading Your Brain."

Cloning: Frontiers of Genetic Engineering by David Jefferis (New York: Crabtree Publishing, 1999) is a glossy 32-page book about genetics, animal cloning, and human cloning. It is advertised by its publisher as a text for children of ages 9 to 12. The two-page spread titled "Cloning people" reports that "many people say it is best to take a breather before rushing ahead too fast, especially with humans." The book ends with a timeline of genetic research, showing "First human clones," "'Alpha humans' are created" and "Human genetic modifications and cloning become common" in the years after 2000.

A feature story in the January 2000 issue of Wired, "Don't Die, Stay Pretty," described a conference organized by the Extropy Institute, a group that promotes an "ultrahuman revolution" of extensive human genetic modifications and human immortality. A number of prominent researchers, including Geron chief scientist Calvin Hartley, spoke at the conference. Wired called their participation "visible acknowledgment that Extropian rhetoric isn't nearly as wild as it sounds."
Brian Alexander, "Don't Die, Stay Pretty," Wired (Vol. 8, No. 1, January 2000)
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.01/forever.html

A special issue of Time magazine, "Beyond 2000" (November 8, 1999), included a short essay by Lee Silver, a central figure in the campaign for human genetic manipulation. Silver wrote of a fantasized marketing campaign by the "St. Genevieve" fertility clinic in the year 2025, imagining an advertising pitch for "Organic Enhancement" — "the DNA molecules added to embryos are totally organic" and "all-natural." Silver even wrote text for the clinic-of-the-near-future's website: "[K]eep in mind, you must act before you get pregnant. Don't be sorry after she's born. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for your child-to-be."

On January 1, 2000, The New York Times carried a story titled "A Small Leap to Designer Babies" by Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Short quotes from critics of human genetic manipulation were overshadowed by the space devoted to advocates Gregory Stock, Lee Silver, and W. French Anderson.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, "A Small Leap to Designer Babies," The New York Times (January 1, 2000)
http://www.nytimes.com/specials/010100mil-gene-stolberg.html

In March 2000 an Associated Press article by Daniel Q. Haney appeared in newspapers across the country. The CNN Interactive version was titled "Scientists Predict Another Hard Choice for Parents: Their Babies' Genes" (March 6, 2000); the Baltimore Sun called it "'Designer Babies' Just Genes Away" (March 15, 2000). The article extensively quoted Gregory Stock, Lee Silver, and other advocates of human genetic manipulation. The only "dissent" was from scientists who believe it will take longer to perfect designer-baby technology than Stock, Silver, and their colleagues believe.