Host: Hello and welcome. So, (talk about current events).

Today, we have prepared something

special. We will be having guests from the medical and church society to discuss with us
a very serious topic, Genetic Intervention. Please welcome ____________. Good
_____________

Guest 1: Good _____________

Host: So, what do the terms Genetic Intervention, genetic reconstruction and genetic
engineering mean?

Guest 1: Basically, those three terms you just mentioned are the same. Genetic Intervention is
the effort to repair genetic defects at their genotype source in the genes and chromosomes
rather than in their phenotypic effects and further to control and produce at will new
combinations of genetic traits in their offspring. When you say genotypic source or
simply genotype, it means the possible combination of genes in the fertilized egg while
phenotypic effect or phenotype is the observable traits in a person, the way they look.

Host: So it means manipulating the genetic make-up of the unborn!

Guest 1: Yes it does manipulate the genes of the unborn but Genetic Intervention is also used to
cure certain diseases

Host: Oh! Are there types of Genetic Intervention?

Guest 1: Yes. There is the sexual selection and human cloning.

Host: Sexual selection? You mean choosing the sex of the baby?

Guest 1: Yes. To determine the sex of the fetus by selecting sperm that does or do not have the
Y chromosomes maleness and then using in vitro fertilization (IVF) & implantation. IVF
is a method wherein a man’s sperm and a woman’s egg are combined in a laboratory dish
where fertilization occurs. The resulting embryo is then implanted to the woman’s womb
to develop naturally. The term “test tube baby” is often used to refer to children
conceived through this technique. IVF also offers infertile couples a chance to have a
child who is biologically related to them.

Host: You also mentioned about cloning earlier but all we know about it is Dolly the sheep.

Guest 1: Cloning is not new to everyone. Cloning offers much more than what meets the eye.
Actually there are 3 different types of cloning; embryo cloning, Adult DNA cloning (aka
reproductive cloning), and therapeutic cloning (aka biomedical cloning). Embryo cloning
is a medical technique which produces identical twins or triplets. One or more cells are
removed from a fertilized embryo and encouraged to develop into one or more duplicate
embryo. Twins and triplets are thus formed with identical DNA. It has been carried out
successfully for years on many species of animals. However, some very limited
 experiments have been done to human embryos. Nature itself is the greatest cloning
agent. In about one of every 75 conceptions, the fertilized ovum split for some unknown
reason and produces identical twins. Each has a genetic make-up identical to the other.
In cloning, this same operation is done intentionally in a laboratory. Reproductive cloning
is intended to produce a duplicate of an existing animal. It has been used to clone
mammals. Dolly was a product of this kind of cloning. The DNA from an ovum is
removed and replaced with the DNA from a cell removed from an adult animal. Then the
fertilized ovum now called a pre-embryo is implanted in the womb and allowed to
develop into a new animal. It had not been tried on humans. It is specifically forbidden
by law in many countries. There are rumors that Dr. Severino Aninori of Italy had
successfully initiated a pregnancy through reproductive cloning. It has the potential of
producing a twin of an existing person. Based on previous animal studies, it has also the
potential of producing severe genetic defects. For the later reason alone, many medical
ethicists consider it to be profoundly immoral procedure when done on humans. In the
case of therapeutic cloning, it doesn’t clone a whole human being but the initial stages are
identical to adult DNA cloning. However, the stem cells are removed from the pre-
embryo with the intent of producing tissue or whole organ for transplant back into the
person who supplied the DNA. The pre-embryo dies in the process. The goal of
therapeutic cloning is to produce a healthy copy of a sick person’s tissue or organ for
transplant. This technique would be vastly superior to relying on organ transplants from
other people. The supply would be unlimited, so there will be no waiting lists. The
tissue or organ would have a sick person’s original DNA, the patient would have to take
immunosuppressant drugs or maintenance medications for the rest of their lives, as is
now required after transplants. There would not be any danger of organ rejection.

Host: Wow! Cloning is way way more complicated than it looks.

Guest 1: Yes and because of that, there are major ethical concerns about all 3 types of cloning
when applied to humans.

Host: We will be talking about the major issues connected to Genetic intervention after a short
break so don’t touch that remote con.

COMMERCIAL BREAK (Wow ulam, Nido, Rejoice)

Host: And we’re back. Earlier, we were discussing things about genetic intervention. We knew
new things like (IVF) In Vitro Fertilization, Sexual Selection and many others. Now, let talk
about the issues connected to it. Let’s bring out our other guests from the religious society and
NGO. ____________________________________. Welcome, ________________________.
(Guests smiles) According to the late Pope John Paul II, “a strictly therapeutic intervention
whose explicit objective is the healing of various maladies such as those stemming from
chromosomal defects will, in principle, be considered desirable, provided it is directed to the true
promotion of the personal well-being of the individual without doing harm to his integrity or
worsening his conditions of life. Such intervention would indeed fall within the logic of the
Christian moral tradition. _______________, what can you say about it?

Guest 2: Well, the late pope is right. The project declares that what they do is for the betterment
of the society. However, as they continue their project, they also need funds to finance their
project which sometimes they use to take advantage on people. A very good example is the
religious sect, called Raelians, insists that they will shortly undertake the same project. The
Raelian sect, among other things, believes that human beings were created in laboratories by
extra-terrestrials and that the resurrection of Jesus was a cloning procedure! Donors and
surrogate mothers have already lined up to pay $250, 000 for the experiment. No one ever knew
whether they proceeded with the experiment or not. Our understanding to Genetic Intervention is
still too meager at this time to succeed. Many of the scientists involved are only motivated by
money.

Host: What can you say about that (to G1)?

Guest 1: Yes it is true that some scientists are after the money but most of the scientists are not.

Host: Aside from what the late pope said, are there other issues? (To the other guests)

Guest 2: The issue about same sex relationship. Because of the project, many people engaged in
same sex marriage or relationships are planning to raise a family of their own are able to raise
their children biologically related to them through In Vitro Fertilization. The church is already
against the same sex relationship alone, but adding the raising of their own child related to them
makes the matters worse. Imagine having two gay fathers or two lesbian mothers raising their
own children. How would they be able to raise their children? What kind of influence will they
be to their children? Right? (Asking the support of audience)

Host: Hmmmm… wouldn’t be that related to Parenting style? Well anyways, how about you
____________?

Guest 3: Another issue is the manifestation of hubris or the attempt to play God. God is the sole
creator of everything. By Genetic Intervention, primarily Cloning, members of religious groups
particularly the Evangelical Christianity and Roman Catholicism believe that a soul enters the
body at the instant of conception, and that the fertilized ovum is in fact a human person with full
human rights. Dividing that “baby” in half during an embryo cloning procedure would interfere
with God’s purpose. It is also human experimentation on live persons. The many cloned zygotes
that died after a few cell divisions would be lost human beings; their loss is considered as serious
as the death of a new baby.
Guest 2: In addition to that, conservative Christians would probably be more distressed at the
use of cloning to weed out genetically defective fertilized ova in therapeutic cloning procedures.
The procedure would result in killing one of the clones during the genetic testing. Since they
regard each of the clones as separate human beings, this would be murder.

Host: What about in the Islamic religion? Does genetic Intervention violate any of the Islamic
beliefs?

Guest 4: According to the Islamic Fiqh Council, cloning does not bring into question any Islamic
belief in any way. Allah is the creator of the universe, but he has established the system of cause
and effect in this world. Sowing a seed in the ground is the cause but only Allah produces the
effect from it in the form of a plant. Similarly, cloning is a cause, and only through Allah’s will it
can produce the effect. Just as the person sowing the seed is not the creator of the resulting
animal. Allah alone is the creator and all creation takes place solely through His Will. Most
cloning is permissible for plants and animals but not humans. The extension of cloning to human
beings would create extremely complex and intractable social and moral problems.

Host: So much about religious conflicts. Let’s talk about issues from the society itself.
__________________, what is our take on this?

Guest 5: For me, there are three other ethically unacceptable reasons. First, such a program
would inevitably lead to eugenics, an attempt by society to coerce everyone to participate in the
genetic improvement program. It would violate the human law of independence. Such a program
would be utopian; it would attempt to develop a perfect human being or a perfect society.
Perfection is too unrealistic. The flaws in each society are also what defines the society itself.
Finally, different cultures have different ideals and that therefore human beings would not be
able to agree on which traits are better or worse for them.

Host: That’s an excellent answer. How about you __________?

Guest 6: As a humanitarian myself, I have also three points. First is about the genetic screening,
genetic control and prenatal diagnosis. They are done with the purpose of aborting the fetus if it
is found to be deformed; hence it is to be condemned as a violation of the unborn child’s right to
life. Second is about the In Vitro Fertilization, Embryo transfer and cloning. They constitute an
offense against the respect due to human beings by manipulating them. Lastly, the surrogacy. It
is contrary to the unity of marriage and to the dignity of the procreation of the human person.

Host: Very well said. Thank you for enlightening us about Genetic Intervention and the issues
connected with it. Do you have anything more to say? (To guests) Thank you for being here with
us. I hope you all enjoyed. See you next time here on ________________.