Current mood:	annoyed
Entry tags:	biology, religion

The Pope and Genetic Engineering
So, according to the head of the Catholic Church, scientists who manipulate genes are evil and destroying humanity.

Never mind that it is through genetic engineering that we can synthesize insulin, erythropoietin, G-CSF, and glucocerebrosidase, and create animals that work as models for human diseases (like OncoMice for breast cancer research) to be able to learn more about the disease without having to endanger humans. It sounds as if the Pope would rather have the people dependent on these treatments for their quality of life suffer and die so they don't take God’s place without being God.

Sorry for the rant, but this kind of thing really gets to me. Do the people who write these sermons and prayers actually think them through first? Genetic engineering isn't some abstract thing mad scientists do to give God the finger. It's a set of real technologies thanks to which many people are alive and happy who might otherwise be dead or suffering. Unfortunately, these benefits are not widely known so it's popular for people seeking support from conservatives to denounce the technology. As another example, President Bush said something similar in his 2006 State of the Union speech:

Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research: human cloning in all its forms; creating or implanting embryos for experiments; creating human-animal hybrids; and buying, selling or patenting human embryos.

(Brief analysis by biologist PZ Meyers here.) I imagine that, like Bush, the Pope either doesn't understand the implications of what he's saying or doesn't really intend them. He's probably just playing politics by throwing bones to his most conservative followers. But it's still inexcusable to incite people against such helpful technology for such flimsy reasons.