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High Dive into the Gene Pool

Plunging into human cloning is perilous and promising. Where should Christians stand?

by Sigmund Brouwer

Imagine you're a mother, and you've just heard your doctor tell you that your only child, a five-year-old girl, has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Over the next years—with painful blood marrow transfusions to delay the inevitable—you will slowly watch her die.

Then your doctor offers you back her life. It will be a simple procedure. The genetic material from one of her liver cells—screened of the leukemia defect—will be fused into one of your own unfertilized egg cells. Inside your womb, then, you can raise another daughter, identical to the first. With no risk of complications or rejection, your first daughter will receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant from her new sister, a younger twin. A clone.

Now the decision is yours and your husband's: let your daughter die, or accept a double gift from medical technology—continued life for your five-year-old, and a second daughter to love and cherish. Along with this decision, as a Christian, you have to face another question. What is right in God's eyes?

Eight months ago, a situation like this would have been considered science fiction. Now, since the news of a world-famous sheep named Dolly, the impossible has become startlingly likely—genetic scientists are able to clone adult mammals, the equivalent of producing identical twins. And this is only the media-frenzy tip of an immense iceberg that has been drifting almost invisibly over the last two decades—through genetic manipulation, scientists have the ability to mold the very clay of all life. In short, it seems God is no longer the only potter at the wheel.

"Humanized" mice and other life forms
What are scientists capable of? At the University of Basel in Switzerland, for example, researchers inserted a specific gene into fly larvae regions normally destined to become wings, legs, antennae, and other body parts. The fruit flies hatched with up to fourteen pairs of eyes.

Other researchers have successfully transplanted human fetal organs into laboratory animals, creating "humanized" mice for scientific experimental use. Human genes have been implanted into the permanent genetic code of mice, sheep, pigs, cows, and fish.

Some might say scientists will never experiment on humans. Yet a few years ago at George Washington University—with permission from a local review board because the embryos were deemed flawed—researchers Jerry Hall and Dr. Robert Stillman used a procedure to split developing human embryos. With seventeen microscopic embryos, the scientists produced forty-eight clones. The clones were allowed to grow up to six days, then destroyed.

---

"We believe [genetic enginerring] is going
to dwarf the pro-life debate within a few
years," religious leaders said in 1995.

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What else is at stake? Consider the financial and medical potential of DNA experimentation on humans. With the U.S. Patent Office's policy of granting patents on human genes and genetically engineered animals, pharmaceutical companies have the potential to make billions of dollars by discovering genetic cures for not only leukemia, but diabetes and many forms of cancer.

More troubling, technology is at the point where genetic screening can determine if a disease might strike you ten or twenty years from now—and life insurance companies could make policy coverage decisions, and major corporations could make promotion decisions, accordingly.

A major scientific revolution is upon us. And our society has yet to sort through the ethical and legal issues that come with this new power.

Deciphering God's DNA Code
How is it that scientists can now accomplish all of this? Ironically, it is because of three aspects of the astoundingly simple way that God has designed our genetic material, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), to direct the growth and function of each cell in concert with all the other cells of an organism.

First, DNA's remarkable design enables it to replicate perfectly, even billions of times. This is possible because of its double helix shape—like a ladder twisted into a spiral staircase. As a cell divides, DNA progressively "unzips" down the center of the ladder. New DNA is replicated from the pattern of the existing strands, resulting in two new ladders identical to the original. Thus, if a scientist makes changes at the single-cell embryo stage, this change will be copied all throughout the development of that embryo to maturity, whether it is a fly embryo or a human embryo.

Second, this double helix pattern makes it possible for scientists to map out gene structure. Section after section of "the ladder" forms gene after gene—some genes as long as a million of the "ladder rung" base pairs. Each gene has a specific task. With humans, there is a gene for baldness. A gene for hemoglobin manufacture. For eye color. On and on and on.

Genetic scientists have long had the technology to essentially "cut" sections of genes out from the DNA ladder, and "paste" other sections in place. In short, they can attempt to re-engineer DNA, and thus re-engineer whatever species they choose to use in experiments. That's how Swiss researchers were able to give fruit flies extra pairs of eyes.

It is the third aspect of DNA that makes cloning possible—only a portion of the DNA is triggered in the life span of any given cell, but every cell contains the entire DNA strand.

Think of a cell's nucleus like the yolk of an egg, but at a microscopic level. Regardless of the purpose of that individual cell, this "yolk" contains all the DNA code of that species. Cell function, however, depends on which "rungs" of the entire DNA ladder direct that cell.

In humans, some cells specialize—becoming hair, blood, skin, or spleen. Yet the nucleus of each of the trillion cells in your body contains the entire and exact same genetic code of that first cell when sperm joined with egg. What is remarkable then, is that every cell in your body has the DNA information needed to clone you.

Until recently, scientists believed it would be decades until they found a way to "persuade" the DNA core of a cell to "unspecialize" and develop like a new embryo.

Dolly the sheep, of course, proved them wrong. Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut bathed the single udder cell of an adult ewe in chemicals which put the cell into suspended animation. This cell was placed beside the unfertilized egg cell from another ewe. The egg cell's nucleus—its yolk—had been removed. A jolt of electricity fused both cells so that the udder cell's nucleus—and all of its DNA code—transferred into the empty donor egg.

The new cell started dividing, like a new fertilized embryo. After six days, the growing embryo was implanted in the womb of another sheep. Five months later, Dolly was born, identical to the adult ewe that donated the udder cell.

Difficult as this process was on a practical level, the concept is so simple that it would only take trial and error before cloning can be applied to other mammals. Including humans.

How cloning can help
The astounding knowledge of the workings of DNA points us not away from, but to the marvels of our Creator. A growing number of researchers find it unreasonable to accept that such precision was created and sustained at random. Dr. Jeff T. Hutchins, a senior staff scientist for a major research company in Raleigh, North Carolina, says this: "Every time I see the complexity of protein structure and function, I am reminded of God's hand in every aspect of our world."

Genetics technology is not in itself an evil to be feared. Far from it. Instead, like most scientific advances, it is a two-edged sword, and promises help for many diseases. Human genes, for example, have been spliced into the DNA of bacteria in order to mass-produce insulin, which is keeping millions of diabetics alive today.

Scientists have also discovered the specific genes that cause Huntington's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, a common type of colon cancer, and the first breast cancer gene. This is good news—once a disease gene is isolated, scientists can search for ways to cure the disease long before the symptoms appear, possibly leading to effective early treatments. And long term, once scientists have found a way to deliver healthy genes to the cells that need them, these diseases might be cured.

As well, scientists have begun removing the barriers that stop the transplant of organs between species. By altering the genetic makeup of a strain of pigs, researchers at Duke University Medical Center were able to fool for a short time the immune systems of baboons, so that the animals accepted transplanted pig hearts almost as their own. From this experiment, the researchers predict that they may soon be ready to successfully transplant pig hearts into humans. This would be wonderful news to the 40,000 people waiting for transplants from a small pool of 5,000 human donors.

Yet all of this leads to compelling moral, ethical, and legal questions.

The harder questions
The cloning of Dolly has served to finally bring genetic science to the forefront of public debate. Scientists, politicians, philosophers, and theologians have been engulfed with questions that Christians recognize as essential:

Is cloning humans morally acceptable?
Even before Dolly, on May 18, 1995, the leaders of most of the major religious groups in the United States gathered in Washington, D.C., and called for a moratorium on the patenting of human and animal genes. Perhaps their most significant statement was this:

"We believe (genetic engineering) is going to dwarf the pro-life debate within a few years. We see altering life forms, creating new life forms, as a revolt against God's sovereignty and the attempt by humankind to usurp God and to be God."

Even those who do not ground their lives on faith in God must consider the possible horrific abuses of human cloning. A megalomaniac might clone himself to harvest organs for spare parts as he grows older. Perhaps a famous athlete or actor or politician gives a blood sample at the doctor's office, and unknown to that person, DNA from that sample is used to create a clone. Or someday, genetic material might be taken from a freshly dead body, and cloned into a new human.

Many might argue for unchecked human genetic research by saying it is not knowledge that is immoral, but immorality lies in how knowledge is used. Yet humans have not shown an impressive track record with the toys given them by science. And who among humans has God's wisdom to understand all the implications of tinkering with human lives and development?

Would a cloned human have a soul?
One needs to look no further than identical twins to see that identical genes do not produce identical people. Clones would differ even more, because chances are they would not be raised in the same family and environment. It is safe for a theologian to say that the original DNA donor would have a separate mind and body from his or her human clone, which, along with the separate faith decisions each make, points to each having a separate soul.

Does this mean God is no longer the Creator of life?
As a cloned person already comes from the ingredients of an existing life, people like philosophy professor David Fletcher of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, (recently quoted in U.S. News & World Report) say that cloning is not the same as creating from scratch. Scientists must use previously living material. God is still the Creator of life.

How can Christians address the issue?
To immediately demand laws against human cloning and similar genetic research does not end the issue. After all, there are laws against murder, and it still occurs. Unscrupulous researchers can simply move into less-regulated countries and continue.

Furthermore, all ethical debate must be grounded on good facts. If uninformed, knee-jerk reactions, well-intended as they might be, usually get the opposite result desired.

The important thing is to be aware. An unrecognized danger is far greater than one exposed. Once we understand the technology and the resulting issue, we can confidently stand on opinions formed from Bible-based principles. From this, we can write intelligent letters to our politicians, and we can get our church leaders to take public stands against the abuses of genetic science.

Perhaps Stanton L. Jones said it best in Christianity Today when he countered the evolutionary psychology theory set forth in the book, The Moral Animal, by Robert Wright. Understanding the biological foundations of human life should lead us to ask why God designed us to be biological creatures, Jones says, giving us the important challenge to let the world know we are not merely biological.

After all, faith allows us to know it is God who breathed life and soul into the assembled bits of complicated protein strands that form our physical selves. Nothing scientists discover and do with this protein will ever change that incredible mystery.

Playing God
Sigmund Brouwer's fictional but frightening glimpse at the dark side of human cloning.

In this scene from Sigmund Brouwer's extensively researched novel, Double Helix, an unethical researcher tampers with human genes for personal gain.

Josef Van Klees finished his calls to fertility clinics. By tomorrow, he'd have two dozen more human eggs for his experiments. It was time consuming to divide the orders among fifteen clinics, but he would do it no other way.

Let women out there sell their eggs for two or three grand to the medical centers who in turn charged another ten grand for the handling service; Van Klees found it easier to come up with money for an available product.

Even a blind dog can find a bone.

Crude, Van Klees thought, but apt. Keep nosing around, never give up, dig here, dig there, and eventually, the blind dog gets lucky.

In genetics too.

You never knew for certain how and where a new strand of DNA would patch in on the original. All you could do was try. And try again.

On occasions like this—as he slid one petri dish under the microscope and then another—Van Klees envied the lesser men who experimented with less complicated creatures.

It wasn't quite as simple with Homo sapiens. Not at the going rate of $12,500 per egg.

Fortunately, Van Klees had a partial solution to that problem. After he'd fertilized an egg, all it took was careful pruning. He'd let a single-cell embryo go to two cells, then four. No more than four, because once an embryo got to the eight-cell stage, each of the eight cells began to specialize, and cutting them apart simply ended the cell's life. But at the four-cell stage, any one of the cells pulled loose would simply and patiently divide itself to start the task all over again.

He never allowed assistants to help him. On a good day, he'd manage to interrupt enough embryos to get another dozen or so single-cell originals. Another generation all identical to each other.

Copyright © 1997 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
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