eugenics

n. A pseudoscientific social and political philosophy which seeks to eradicate genetic defects and improve the genetic makeup of populations in general through selective breeding. Positive eugenics seeks to increase the number of children of those who are considered genetically superior, and negative eugenics seeks to reduce the number of those who are considered to have genetic defects. The eugenics movement was popular in Germany before and during the Nazi era and in Britain and the United States through much of the 20th century, leading to the forced sterilization of retarded, mentally ill, and homosexual individuals.