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The Age, 2001.
Genetic technology should not be hindered by "mysterious beliefs".
The hand-wringing by Australian governments over genetic technology is based upon fantasies, falsehoods and unproven theories of God's existence. As they try to put the genome back in the bottle by restricting cloning and genetic tampering, our leaders are ignoring the possibilities the decoding of the genome presents. And future children may suffer for it.
Our governments are drafting laws to prohibit scientists from "playing god". Playing God involves creating new life forms, or cloning those already created by God (or happenstance, depending which side of the faith fence you are on).
The religious argument revolves around the sanctity of the divine creation of life - this is God's department, say the churches. To design or mimic a life form is to subvert God's role. If you are born with a genetic deformity, it's a divine plan that deems it so.
Ensuring against genetic deformity in future children is, apparently, the work of the devil.
The non-religious argument revolves around the preservation of the random creation of life. If you are born with a deformity, the thinking goes, it's better than being a healthy clone.
There are some wacky theories justifying the resistance to cloning - human clones will be grown and kept in comas as their organs are harvested by their "parents"; super armies of Schwarzeneggers will be created and set loose to ravage the world; millions of designer-blonde babies will dumb down society.
The churches say tampering with genes to ensure a healthy child is immoral. Governments say tampering with genes to ensure a healthy child is to discriminate against the unhealthy child you could have had. Our governments are playing the tune of the churches, albeit in a different key.
Since we cracked the human genome, the possibilities presented by genetic technology have broadened immeasurably. Geneticists speak seriously about ridding the world of cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease or cerebral palsy if, and only if, they are allowed to explore the genomes possibilities.
No way, say the churches, God created these afflictions to test us, he can cure them anytime. But he hasn't.
The thing with scientific discovery is that until you make the discovery, you can't predict what it will be. What if our scientists discover a way of cloning just your liver? Would you have a problem with a replica of your liver being kept on ice until you need it? Or do you find the current practice of harvesting the livers of the dead more morally comforting? And does God? Will future generations look upon us with the same bafflement that we look upon Seventh-Day Adventists who prefer death to a blood transfusion?
Why do we tolerate law-makers crafting legislation based on the presumption of God's existence (and interest)? If God were running for parliament he'd get trounced by One Nation. If he wanted laws made in his name, he'd have to do some serious number-crunching.
Why is there such an aversion to genetic technologies, when their potential to improve health and living conditions appear boundless? Few could believe that scientists are pushing the frontiers of cloning technology so future billionaires can transplant their own brains into new bodies without rejection. And even if that were the case, what does God have to do with it? God, if he exists, has made clear we must handle our own problems, cure our own diseases, save our own starving millions.
Don't forget, the Catholic Church rejected IVF technology when it was introduced. IVF, said the church, is "playing God". Do the parents of the thousands of IVF babies worldwide give a fart in a bath whether they played God to get them? Do the babies feel disadvantaged by their "godless" creation? Can the church say those children do not have souls? Won't a human clone have a soul, too?
How long is the almighty prepared to let cancer, MS, Alzheimer's and cerebral palsy go unchecked? And how long are his followers prepared to make us wait?
"Mysterious ways" be damned. There is nothing mysterious or elusive about these tragic afflictions, except a cure. Having lost friends and family to these evils, I have no problem with science discovering cures through genetic tampering. And I doubt the hungry millions would care that the insect-resistant wheat they could one day feed their children is man-made.
We must tear down the barriers to development of genetic technologies and work on the assumption that the good that will come from them will by far outweigh the cynical scenarios outlined by religious minorities and kowtowing politicians. Besides, a ban on technological discoveries will have the same chance of success as the prohibition of narcotics.
Scientists will break through. They always do. Chances are there's a rogue nation somewhere preparing to clone their first human. Let's discover the full potential of genetic science before the rogues, and then decide what we shall do with the knowledge. And let's leave God out of it until he gives us a sign that he gives a hoot.
If God won't play God, we must do it ourselves.
Tim Ferguson is a Melbourne comic and TV presenter.
E-mail: opinion@theage.fairfax.com.au
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