The Inevitable Ethical Quagmire of Human Genetic Engineering

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The Inevitable Ethical Quagmire of Human Genetic
Engineering

• Dr. Ray Bohlin
• Probe Ministries
• www.probe.org
• rbohlin_at_ probe.org

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Fact from Fiction

• The Human Genome Project
• Human Genetic Engineering
• Human Cloning

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What is the Human Genome Project?

• An organisms genome consists of all its genes.
• The Human Genome Project is a multinational
  research project to determine the sequence of all
  3 x 109 base pairs and hence all human genes.

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The Human Genome Project - Goals

• Map and sequence the human genome
• Map and sequence the genomes of important model
  organisms
• Collect and distribute data
• Study ethical, legal, and social implications

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The Human Genome Project - Fruits

• Newborn Screening phenylketonuria (PKU)
• Carrier Screening Tay Sachs Disease
• Gene Therapy Cystic Fibrosis
• Gene-based Therapy Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
  is due to joining of chromosomes 9 and 22 causing
  abnormal protein blocked by specific drug

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Biblical Principles

• Genesis 126-28
• Created in Gods Image
• Therefore we are distinct from the animals
• We are fallen creatures.
• Our imperfections are used by God.
• Exhortation to be fruitful and multiply

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Naturalistic/Evolutionary Principles

• An organisms sole purpose is to survive and
  reproduce
• We are just another animal species
• We are defined by our genes and how they
  interact with the environment.
• The species persists through time.
• We are just a vehicle for the reproduction of DNA.

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What is genetic engineering?

• GE is defined as the manipulation or alteration
  of the genetic structure of a single cell or
  organism.
• This refers to the deliberate addition, deletion,
  or intentional mutation of an organisms DNA
  sequence to produce a desired result.

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What is genetic engineering?

• More commonly it involves the transfer of a gene
  from one organism to another.
• This is neither good nor evil, the nature of the
  experiments themselves will determine the moral
  content.

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Is it wrong to place human genes in an animal?

• One gene does not a human make. A gene is a
  molecule of DNA.
• Transgenic pigs have been made to produce human
  Factor VIII, a blood-clotting agent needed by
  hemophiliacs.
• But human/chimp transgenic organisms designed to
  begin deciphering the difference between humans
  and chimps is a different story.

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Is it OK to use animals to produce human organs?

• In Genesis 321 the Lord used animals skins to
  make clothes for Adam and Eve.
• In Gen. 93 He gave permission to use animals for
  food.
• Weve used spleens of pigs for insulin for
  diabetics.
• Seems no difference in using animals for organs.

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Should GE be used for curing genetic diseases?

• Curing genetic diseases should be approached
  cautiously.
• The Church has traditionally been about the
  business of healing.
• At first, only lethal conditions should be
  researched for complications.
• Must approach with humility and sensitivity
  towards those already affected by these diseases.
• We will always have some imperfections, but . . .
  .

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Should I be able to determine the sex of my child?

• Not a simple yes or no answer.
• If the determination is made after fertilization,
  a negative result is only rectified by abortion.
• But we can separate y sperm from x sperm.
• Not much wrong , but little good about it, even
  if preventing a sex-linked disease.

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Is it ever OK to engineer desired traits?

• Public opinion is currently against this
  procedure.
• We live in a culture where personal choice is
  idolized.
• We allow facelifts and tummy tucks dont we?
• Trying to limit GE to curing disease is not as
  easy as it sounds.

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Is it ever OK to engineer desired traits?

• There will be hard cases and choices.
• GATTACA
• A single gene in mice allows them to learn
  faster, remember longer and possess greater
  curiosity.
• But this same protein plays a role in the
  consequences of strokes and sensitizes the brain
  to heroin and cocaine.

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Do we have the right to change our genetic
make-up in any way?

• Our physical bodies do not define the image of
  God.
• Correcting a genetic mistake does not alter
  Gods image.
• However, transfer of sets of genes designed to
  alter our physical, emotional, intellectual, and
  spiritual capacities are another story.

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What about producing superhumans or subhumans?

• The knowledge and techniques are lacking.
• The genetic factors surrounding athletic ability,
  intelligence, appearance, and personality are
  still a mystery.
• But what about 50-100 years from now?
• The importance of worldview!
• Wilson and sociobiology.

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Cloning Dolly
starved
fusewith
Mammary gland cell
enucleated egg
potential embryo
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Scientific Issues - Sheep

• Inefficient - 277 fusions, 1 lamb
• How long will Dolly live?
• Will Dolly be fertile? Yes!
• Other clones are large and fragile with subtle
  genetic abnormalities
• Some questioned Dollys authenticity but this was
  answered recently.

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Human Cloning
Dr.Antinori
Dr. Zavos
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Human Cloning

• Its inevitable that someone will try and
  someone will succeed, predicts Delores Lamb, an
  infertility expert at Baylor University. The
  consensus among biotechnology specialists is that
  within a few years some scientists believe a
  few months the news will break of the birth of
  the first human clone.

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Why Clone Humans?

• Doug Dorner, sterile because of leukemia
  treatment at age 16 The more he read the more
  excited he got. Technology saved my life when I
  was 16, he says, but at the cost of his
  fertility. I think technology should help me
  have a kid. Thats a fair trade. Time,
  2/19/2001, p. 51

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Why Clone Humans?

• Randolphe Wicker, 63 I can thumb my nose at
  Mr. Death and say, You might get me, but youre
  not going to get all of me, he says. The
  special formula that is me will live on into
  another lifetime. Its a partial triumph over
  death. I would leave my imprint not in sand, but
  in cement.

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Why Clone Humans?

• Jack Barker, Minneapolis marketing specialist,
  36, says, Ive come to the conclusion that I
  dont need a partner but can still have a child,
  he says. A clone would be the perfect child to
  have because I know exactly what Im getting.
•  
• Cloning, he hopes, might even let him improve on
  the original I have had bad allergies and
  asthma. It would be nice to have a kid like you
  but with those improvements. p. 55.

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Why Clone Humans?
Same sex couples
Source of organs for transplants
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Why Clone Humans?

• Why not? Were just another animal species?
• Children for childless couples

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Violation of Human Dignity

• Distinctions between man and animals
• Child becomes a thing to be designed, sold and
  marketed

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Human Experimentation

• No matter how much animal experimentation is
  done, human embryos will be sacrificed

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Cloned Expectations

• People cloned for certain traits will have high
  expectations
• Clones are identical twins, not parent and child

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Summary

• Tremendous waste of human life at embryonic
  stages.
• Degradation of human dignity - humans
  designed/created for purposes other than
  procreation.
• Dangerous family situations
• Unwise personal expectations
• Beneficial research goals achievable by other
  means.

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Human Clones?

• The short answer to the cloning question, says
  ethicist Caplan, is that anybody who clones
  somebody today should be arrested. It would be
  barbaric human experimentation. It would be
  killing fetuses and embryos for no purpose, none,
  except for curiosity. But if you cant agree that
  thats wrong to do, and if the media cant agree
  to condemn rather than gawk, thats a
  condemnation of us all.

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The drive toward human cloning is being powered
by a selfish mythical right to total reproductive
freedom and further fueled by a profound lack of
moral courage on the part of science and society.
We are unwilling to say that there are some
experiments we will not perform.
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Fact from Fiction

• The Human Genome Project
• Human Genetic Engineering
• Human Cloning

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Biblical Clones?

• Rebecca a thirtysomething San Francisco Bay
  Area resident, spent seven years trying to
  conceive a child with her husband. Having been
  to hell and back with IVF treatment, Rebecca is
  now as thoroughly committed to cloning as she is
  to Christianity. Its in the Bible be fruitful
  and multiply, she says.

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Biblical Clones?

• People say, Youre playing God. But were not.
  Were using the raw materials the good Lord gave
  us. What does the doctor do when the heart has
  stopped? They have to do direct massage of the
  heart. You could say the doctor is playing God.
  But we save a life. With human cloning, were not
  so much saving a life as creating a new being by
  manipulation of the raw materials, DNA, the
  blueprint of life. Youre simply using it in a
  more creative manner.