Does anyone know the title of this sci-fi novel I read around the year 2000?
The story opens in a facility where hyper-intelligent children are being raised. The central character is the ‘runt’ of the litter, but he is still a genius.
He escapes from the facility and flees to India where he hides with a poor Indian woman. He is able to pass on his genetically engineered genes through his saliva, so when he kisses the Indian woman his genes for intelligence begin to spread through the population.
Soon, most humans are hyper-intelligent. The story then moves into space, where two factions battle it out over whether to construct some kind of engineering project.