A Christian Worldview: Technology & Medicine (1)

Vallance, David (MD)

Part of the A Christian Worldview ~ A. J. Higgins series.

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In the beginning, God directed Adam to subdue and rule the earth, and everything in it (Gen 1:28). In this “dominion mandate” the Lord
called the man to use his intellect, creativity, and strength to enhance the beauty of creation, and to extend the Garden over all of Eden
and the earth. He also charged Adam to discover the earth’s potential and to harness its resources for his bene t. By this mandate, the
Lord encouraged technology—applying knowledge, skills, and tools to accomplish useful objectives. God created man in His own
image: ingenuity and innovation ow from likeness to God (Gen 1:26-27).

The fall brought disease and death, and lives spent fearing both (Rom 5:12; Heb 2:15). But the righteous God who cursed the earth is
also gracious; He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and often softens the blow of the curse by restoring health and delaying
death (Eze 33:11; Psa 103:3). When He chooses to heal, He may use means such as prayer and medical treatment. Accordingly, His
Word encourages man to direct his genius toward restoring health and prolonging life. The Lord once instructed Isaiah to apply a
poultice to Hezekiah’s infected skin (Isa 38:21). Similarly, Christ’s disciples anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them (Mark
6:13). God’s Word records the use of simple substances such as oil and wine to promote healing (Luke 10:34; 1Tim 5:23; James 5:14).
Christ portrayed Himself as a Healer when He quoted the proverb, “Physician, heal yourself,” and when He a rmed that “those who
are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Luke 4:23; 5:31, ESV). Further, Luke the “beloved physician” portrays the
Lord Jesus as a Doctor who “cured those who had need of healing” (Col 4:14; Luke 9:11, ESV).

Genetic Engineering: Promises and Pitfalls

Medicine has made great strides since the days of the g poultice. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates spoke only of care; now we
speak of cures for a growing number of diseases. Having unlocked the secrets of living things, molecular biologists are quickening the
pace of progress by applying this knowledge to devise entirely new methods of treatment, methods far more powerful and satisfying
than the current drugs-and-surgery approach.

Genetic engineers manipulate microscopic units of heritable information called genes. The Son of God encoded into each gene the
manufacturing instructions for one of the body’s molecular components (John 1:3; Col 1:16). He created genes out of DNA, the famous
double-helical polymer which He devised to store biological data. He strung genes end to end and tightly coiled them into structures
called chromosomes. The human genome is the complete library of tens of thousands of genes packed into 46 separate chromosomes.
The nucleus of every cell contains this entire genome. Although the average human cell is only 25 micrometers wide, the DNA from its
46 chromosomes stretched out in a line exceeds two meters in length.

Scientists have sequenced the human genome’s entire three billion “base pairs” and cracked the genetic code. Researchers not only can
read this code, but also write it. They can manufacture synthetic genes and insert them into the working DNA of living cells. For
example, they can build genes containing the proper code for CFTR, the membrane protein which is defective in cystic brosis, and can
splice these corrected genes into the native DNA of patients with this disorder. Once perfected and widely available, this gene therapy
promises cystic brosis su erers normal health and a full lifespan.

Scientists can also produce genetically modi ed organisms (GMOs) by cutting out a strand of DNA bearing a gene with desired
properties from one species and inserting it into the DNA of a di erent species. Genetically modi ed bacteria and yeast are now
making useful products such as insulin, growth hormone, vaccines, blood components, antivenins, and biodiesel fuel. GMO crops resist
pests or tolerate herbicides better than native plants, and may grow faster and last longer in storage. Genetically modi ed cabbages,
for instance, have been engineered to secrete scorpion poison, much to the chagrin of cabbage worms.

Even if we brush aside the anti-GMO rhetoric of wide-eyed conspiracy theorists, there are still valid reasons to be uneasy about this
brash technology. It is true that plant and animal breeders have manipulated genes for millennia, but not so invasively. Blending genes
across species usurps the Creator’s authority, because it blurs the very identity of organisms He created “after their kind” (Gen 1:21).
The most important boundary is the blazing red line God drew between humans and animals. He made Adam and Eve alone in His
image, gave humans alone a spiritual nature, and walked in fellowship alone with the man and the woman (Gen 2:7; 3:8). Indi erent to
this, some scientists have breached this boundary by splicing human genes into animal cells and vice versa to create human-animal
hybrids. They have also fused human and animal cells in very early stages of embryonic development to create chimeras, organisms
that are part animal and part human.

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The world has yawned at this, and the people so furious about GMO “Frankenfoods” are apparently not worried about genetically
modi ed humans. However, this critical confusion of species violates God’s order and raises serious ethical concerns about the human
future. Some interpreters believe a similar genetic corruption occurred in the antediluvian world, when embodied angels began to
interbreed with the daughters of men (Gen 6:1-4; 2Peter 2:4; Jude 6). If we similarly form human organisms that have a nonhuman
parent or are capable of generating nonhuman o spring, we desecrate the image of God in man.

By contrast, some combination of cellular or genetic material across species lines to restore human health may be ethical, if the
technique does not fundamentally alter the identity of the human or the animal. Since we are spirit-and-soul beings with detachable
bodies, our humanity cannot be fully de ned by genes or reduced to organs (2Cor 5:6-8; 1Thes 5:23). At the level of bare biology,
however, we are mere mammals, and thus can borrow from other mammals. Pigs already provide over 40 products for human
medicine, such as heart valves, skin, and thyroid hormone. Gene editing will soon allow us to grow fully human and genetically
matched organs in pigs to transplant into patients with organ failure. When these pig-grown organs are widely available, the agony of
long transplant waiting lists and the need for dangerous immune-suppressing drugs will disappear.

– To be continued

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