wfn.org | Theologians ponder medical miracles

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Note #6265 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

14-November-2000
00407

Theologians ponder medical miracles

Advances in genetics invite physicians and parents to "play God"

by Evan Silverstein

PITTSBURGH -- Rapid scientific advances in gene therapy over the past decade
have brought science to the brink of not only unlocking the mysteries of
human life, but of actually fashioning it after our own desires and dreams,
according to officials at a Presbyterian Church (USA)-sponsored conference
on genetics.

	Human genetic intervention, once viewed as wild science fiction, is now
seen as an imminent  breakthrough that will revolutionize the practice of
medicine by paving the way for new drugs, new medical therapies and new
business ventures related to human reproduction, a field previously reserved
for God as creator.

	Some of the potential innovations raise some of the most profound
theological, moral, ethical and legal questions humans have ever faced.

	Shedding light on these and other genetically-related concerns was the
focus of What Does It Mean To Be Human? A Conference on Genetics and
Christian Faith. About 100 participants, including theologians, Christian
educators and geneticists, discussed topics ranging from the spiritual
implications of gene therapy to the perils of human cloning to the promise
of the Human Genome Project, in which scientists are mapping the order of
the three billion pairs of nucleotides that make up human DNA.

	"Why are we so excited about gene therapy as opposed to traditional
treatment?" Dr. Kenneth W. Culver, a Presbyterian elder and a pioneer in
gene-therapy research, asked during one session of the three-day event that
ended on Nov. 11. "You're treating the disease at the fundamental basis of
where it occurs, the genes in this case, to the correction of all the
manifestations of the disease. It's hard not to be excited by that."

	Recent advances in understanding and manipulating genes, the biological
units of heredity, have set the stage for scientists to learn to alter
patients' genetic material to fight or prevent diseases including cancer,
heart disease, schizophrenia and diabetes. One dream of researchers is to be
able to replace missing or flawed genes with healthy copies. Instead of
giving a patient a drug to treat or control symptoms of a genetic disorder,
physicians will correct the problem by altering the patient's genetic
makeup.

	"The ethics of current genetic technology in my mind really is not
different," said Culver. "The goal is to take this information and do
exactly what we've always been doing, and that is try to make people
better."

	Participants in the conference, which was co-sponsored by the Office of
Theology and Worship and the Center for Business, Religion and Public Life
at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, also discussed how genetic progress will
make its way from science laboratories to human families and communities.

	They said the faith community should start brushing up on its genetics, so
that church officers will be ready to grapple with the theological
conundrums that are bound to arise; for example, when couples play
"co-creator" by selecting the gender of their child, or when they face a
decision about whether to undergo testing to learn whether potential
offspring may have genetic diseases.

	"Sooner or later, every pastor in this room will be asked the question,
‘There is a genetic problem; what should we do?'" predicted Eric Riesen, a
Lutheran pastor who led a conference workshop. "I think we need to be
equipped to say something. We need to understand that just because there is
a genetic test ... they can be wrong. But also, if they're not wrong, what
are our options?"

	Scientists already are able to modify the genes of some animals in utero.
Theoretically, they could do the same in humans, producing healthier,
smarter, so-called "designer" children and eliminating genetic diseases.
Parents would then be able to modify their offspring, giving them desirable
traits such as increased intelligence, height or artistic ability.

	Society needs to think about what impact this power would have on the
parent-child relationship, conference officials said, and the likelihood
that parents would use it justly.

	Scientific advances have already made "test-tube babies" routine and
empowered parents to select the gender of a child before conception. Further
advances will soon make it possible for parents to pre-select many of their
children's characteristics.

	Many clergy who attended the conference, like the Rev. Ronald Botts, of
Columbus, OH, were seeking information to help them deal with questions from
church members becoming aware of the potential of gene therapy.

	"We do feel there's a real lag in science and our ability to develop our
theological response to that," said Botts. "We're certainly not much of a
shaper of what's going on in this whole process. In fact, we're not even ...
reactors yet."

	Botts, the Ohio Council of Churches' director for Ecumenical Issues, said
integrating genetics and theology will require church leaders to sharpen
their knowledge in numerous scientific disciplines.

	"That has to happen ultimately in the life of the church, in the life of
the local congregation," he said. "How do you take very complex topics like
this and begin to break it down in ways that people can understand the basic
things that are at stake here? And how do we begin to study within our Bible
and our traditions to understand how this all applies to the topic? I think
that's what our challenge is going to be."

	One physician warned clergy not to try to understand too much too soon
about the quickly evolving frontier of genetic science.

	"I think it will help the church to understand genetics, and then we will
understand better how God operates in us," said Sechin Cho, M.D., a
Presbyterian elder who is chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the
University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita. "I don't think there's
anything to worry about. Let's study it, understand and see how we can
develop God's intentions better."

	Meanwhile, the cloning debate has moved from speculation about cloning
humans to possible medical applications. Scientists suggest they might be
able to clone embryos and reprogram them to make replacement body cells for
victims of degenerative diseases. But what of the ethical issues?

	"We are going to play God," said Riesen, a doctoral candidate at Pittsburgh
Theological Seminary who is taking part in a project on genetic discussions
at the local-church level. "To be a human being is to play God. To be
created in God's image is to be given almost God-like power. If you believe
in God, you believe you are to live your life under God and to be a creative
co-creator. That's going to make a big difference on how you approach these
technologies, how you use the technologies, how you evaluate -- morally --
these technologies."

	For some, progress in genetic science raise the specter of genetic
discrimination, and privacy issues. There is also concern that the medical
advances derived from gene technology may be made available only to a
privileged few.

	"I wonder to what extent these technologies can create a new range, a new
type of privilege," asked the Rev. Scott Williamson, an assistant professor
of theological ethics at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
"I wonder who will suffer."

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