Issues Tearing Our Nation's Fabric The Center for Reclaiming America

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Genetic Engineering
Chapter Nine

News in early 1997 that researchers in Scotland had successfully cloned an adult sheep took the world by storm. Suddenly, as pictures of the lamb named Dolly began appearing on TV and in newspapers around the world, the idea of cloning seemed to take on new significance. No longer merely speculation, it was apparent now that the process could actually work; the sheep whose DNA had been reproduced with a single cell from the mammary gland of another ewe was living proof. And genetic engineering had suddenly moved from science fiction to the world of fact.

But despite all the celebrity and controversy this feat has aroused, the general outlines of genetic engineering, or gene-splicing as it is also called, have been around for quite a long time. More than a hundred years ago, around 1856, an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel discovered the basic principles of heredity by breeding, cross-breeding, and observing the development of garden peas in his monastery garden. That was the first recorded experiment in the science of heredity.

Mendel began by observing the seven characteristic shapes and colors of plants, and by means of cross pollination he bred plants between varieties to see what changes would occur over two or more generations. When he published his findings at a conference in Brunn, Moravia, in 1865, most of his fellow researchers were mildly amused, but none understood the magnitude of what this solitary Christian brother had done.

Today, geneticists and molecular biologists credit Mendel’s work as the first important research in their field. Mendel’s laws of "unit inheritance," "segregation," and "independent assortment" are foundational to the study of heredity and gene structure. His analyses of dominant and recessive traits in plants laid the framework not only for the emergence of genetic engineering, but for some of the fundamental principles of psychology, medicine, pharmacology, and general biology, as well.

The Substance of Science

As one of the most revolutionary sciences of our day, genetic engineering has the potential of bringing us many modern miracles. By decoding the incredibly complex language of DNA and human gene structure, of which there may be as many as 100,000 separate patterns, scientists may be able to find cures for many previously untreatable diseases. Already, genetic research is providing answers to infertility, increased food production, waste disposal, species hybridization, and in vitro fertilization.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health, has discovered two of these vital gene structures that are expected to provide cures for the previously untreatable diseases of cystic fibrosis and neurofibromatosis. Researchers in the same program have recently discovered two more genes linked to breast cancer, and some reporters suggest that this will lead to the development of new chemistry and pharmaceuticals that may save thousands of lives each year.

Like Gregor Mendel, Dr. Collins is a scientist dedicated to expanding our knowledge of nature and deciphering the remarkable code language of human biology. But he also shares another trait with the Austrian monk: his sincere faith in God. In its cover story on this most remarkable young scientist, who is both a genetic engineer and a medical doctor, USA Today observed that it is faith that informs his science.

"During his 90-hour work week," says the reporter, "Collins juggles time among family, church work, four teams of researchers, administrative and faculty duties and patients in his genetic diseases clinic. On Sundays, he and his wife provide the music for their small Baptist church. He plays guitar and keyboards; his wife writes original music." And then the writer adds, "It is Collins’ religious beliefs that make him keenly aware of the ramifications of his work and of the fact that what he and other gene hunters do in their laboratories directly affects millions of people" (USA Today, July 24, 1990, 1D).

Surpassing the Pioneers

The great founders of science were men of faith who recognized God’s hand in creation. Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Blaise Pascal, Louis Pasteur, Michael Faraday, Samuel Morse, Gregor Mendel, George Washington Carver, and many others attributed their successes to divine guidance. It should be surprising, in fact, when men and women of science do not acknowledge their dependence on providence. But, of course, not all do.

Consider the case of the distinguished British biochemist, Sir Francis Crick, who won the 1962 Nobel Prize (along with his American colleague, James Watson) for his description of the double-helix structure of DNA. Now that he is a figure of legend in modern science, Crick has set his sights on a higher goal. He wants to be the first to discover the neurological roots of what he calls "the myth of immortality." In short, he is searching for the soul.

"Where do joy and sorrow come from?" he asks. "What is the source of our sense of personal identity and the notion of free will?" Crick is convinced the profound emotions of the mind and the intellect are little more than the actions of peptides and amino acids on nerve cells. But how to prove it? The mysterious qualities of behavior we refer to as "the soul," he says, are not phenomena of religion or philosophy, but phantom emotions created by a complex of neurons and their strange chemical interactions.

While celebrating his own human capacity for analysis and discovery, the famous scientist has dismissed the role of the Creator in His creation. The Christian gladly declares with the psalmist, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork" (Psalm 19:1). And again, "The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them" (Psalm 111:2). But some, like Francis Crick, have apparently been blinded by the obvious.

Lost in the forest, they quickly lose sight of the trees. And the humanist who has discarded all references to the Divine will use his science to try and prove that God is an antiquated and pointless concept. Belief in God is unnecessary, he would say, since the scientist has demonstrated unlimited powers of deduction. And with one or two important successes to his credit, he may declare, with Nietzsche, that "God is dead," or with Crick that He never existed at all. But even such strident disbelief leaves the inner man starved for knowledge of his own soul. Even in their rebellion against the Creator, such men cannot help but search for Him.

Admitting the Obvious

The most troubling questions arising from recent experiments in DNA and gene splicing are the moral implications of these scientific discoveries. We have to wonder whether, like the sorcerer’s apprentice, science may not be tampering with mysteries too profound for us, or whether some chain reaction may not unleash forces upon nature that could destroy the world as we know it. Could a laboratory accident or an error in calculation allow some mutant bacterium, some strange new virus, or perhaps some genetically altered creature to invade society and wreak havoc on humankind?

Now that cloning has been conducted in at least one experiment with a higher order mammal, others may ask: Can we be far from cloning human beings? If so, will humans be cloned for spare parts? Will some people attempt to clone themselves for the sake of immortality? Or might not some unscrupulous dictator clone legions of hardened, merciless warriors to take over the world? And what about homosexuals and lesbians who have already announced plans to use the new techniques to reproduce themselves?

In response to questions and concerns like these, two important truths emerge. First, if it is possible, someone will try it. Second, God will not allow man to go beyond the limits set upon his knowledge and his capacity to use these discoveries wisely. Man is naturally curious and there is no limit to what he will attempt in the pursuit of knowledge. Satan certainly exploited this aspect of our nature at Eden. In Genesis 11 we also have the example of Babel. God has given mankind authority and dominion over nature; but there are limits that cannot be superseded. The story of Babel tells us we can go so far and no farther, regardless of how superior our science may be.

Many such limitations are already built into the natural order. For example, the cloning of the sheep Dolly was not nearly as efficient and precise as the headlines might suggest. Literally thousands of cell divisions were attempted in the laboratory before scientists discovered the means by which the egg of the recipient ewe could be spliced with the enucleated cell from the donor sheep. At least 277 fusions were attempted, from which 29 developed in vitro, and from which, in turn, 13 ewes were impregnated. Of those 13 fetuses, only one survived. Clearly, successful conception and delivery with those odds could never occur in nature.

The complexity and high failure rates of the procedure raise further questions. Can a sheep produced under precise laboratory conditions survive in nature? Will she have the right chemistry for her species, and will she have the endurance to live more than a few months? Also, can a genetically altered sheep breed and reproduce normally? Similar research with frogs has suggested that clones are almost always sterile. And what about lifespan? Since Dolly was the product of an implant of an adult ewe, will she live out her full lifespan or just the remainder beyond the age of the original donor?

Only time will allow researchers to answer these questions. It may turn out that Dolly is a one-time phenomenon, and that the celebrity of the experiments is exaggerated and sensationalistic. Still, there is the chance that these findings will allow other geneticists to take the inevitable next step and begin experiments with human cells. In March 1997 the White House warned against such actions by declaring human cloning off-limits for federally-funded research; but, as suggested above, sooner or later, someone will try it, and when they do, new ethical and moral questions will have to be answered.

In the meantime we need to acknowledge that God, through the agency of His Son, Jesus Christ, is the author of all life. The apostle John tells us, "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:3–4). The complex sequencing of DNA molecules tells us that life has an Author who has given detailed instructions that science is only beginning to comprehend.

The messages are not new. They have been there throughout the entire history of life on earth; it has simply taken us 3,000 years of scientific progress to reach the stage where we know what to look for. Genetic engineers such as Dr. Francis Collins recognize that the complexity and incredible richness of the language encoded in human gene structures declare with authority that a Supreme Intelligence is behind it all. As with evolution and astronomy, the more we learn about nature, the greater our ignorance; but the more we are humbled by the magnitude and magnificence of the creation, the closer we come to the Creator.

You may contact these organizations:

Center For Bioethics and Human Dignity
2065 Half Day Road
Bannockburn, IL 60015
(847) 317-8180

Probe Ministries
1900 Firman Drive, Suite 100
Richardson, Texas 75081
(800) 899-PROBE
(972) 480-0240

For further reading:

Lane P. Lester, Raymond G. Bohlin. The Natural Limits to Biological Change, Richardson, Texas: Probe Books, 1989.
Gilbert Meilaender. Bioethics: A Primer for Christians. Grand Rapids: Wm .B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1996.

On the World Wide Web:

Creation Outreach: http://onramp.ior.com/%7Ekjc/creation.html
Probe Ministries: http://www.probe.org/lambclon.htm
Center For Bioethics and Human Dignity: http://www.bioethix.org/
Leadership University: http://www.leaderu.com

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Copyright 1997, Coral Ridge Ministries. All rights reserved.