In the 1920s the Soviet Union sponsored a “humanzee” breeding program. From what I recall the ultimate rationale for the funding was that the program might create a race of superior warriors, combing the incredible physical strength on a per pound basis of the chimp, with the greater level of intelligence found in human beings. To our knowledge the experiments were failures, though there have long been rumors of successes in these sorts of programs. I suspect the possibility persists because of the transgressive freak-show aspect.

This was a case where the science of the time was simply not up to the ambitions of the scientists, and this sort of engineering for the good-of-society has been the domain of science fiction. Consider the novel Cyteen. In this future history cloning is normal and acceptable, and the heart of the story involves the attempt to replicate a super-genius. There are broader stellar-political implications, as these sorts of minds are driving engines of innovation, and so strategically valuable. A cruder model of this was also explored in the G. I. Joe universe in the form of the villain Serpentor. He was engineered from the genetic material of ancient conquerors.

One of the issues which naturally cropped up in Cyteen is that genius seems to emerge through an intersection of environmental and genetic inputs. So part of the novel focuses on the environmental inputs which are replicated for the copy-genius, and the tensions which arise from this. But even granting this mitigating factor the underlying model is that the genes of geniuses will increase the odds of producing geniuses. We see this with professional athletes; regression toward the mean explains why the offspring of most professional athletes are not good enough to become professionals themselves. But, the odds of one’s child becoming a professional athlete are far above expectation if a parent is a professional athlete. The Bonds and Griffeys illustrate this.

With all that said, we have long been able to “brute force” the existence of clones in theory (at least since Dolly). Combined with the future reboot of gene therapy procedures, as well as the ability to extract and amplify older DNA samples, there is the possibility that with enough capital inputs you could “re-create” Einstein. I’m talking a classic Boys from Brazil scenario. The humanitarian and ethical obstacles to this are clear and present in any liberal society, but what about a totalitarian one? Stalin was in power for about 25 years.

Addendum: And then there’s the famous case of Duncan Idaho.