Over the last few years, science-related news has included much coverage related to the creation of “synthetic cells.” Of these, researchers in Maryland and California are said to have developed a hybrid type of bacteria called Mycoplasma mycoides. This newly engineered bacteria results from scientists implanting strands of DNA into another, different bacteria from which the original DNA had been removed. The “new” resultant bacteria package began behaving as if it had originated naturally. Oxford University ethics professor Julian Savulescu commented, "This is a step towards ... creation of living beings with capacities and natures that could never have naturally evolved.”
Indeed. On a number of levels, such scientific “accomplishments” amount to pushing nature toward things unnatural. Some of the news coverage included journalists asking persons if they thought that such research was an example of, “man trying to play God?”
One’s answer to that question should be tempered by the fact that that while the creation of hybrid bacterias is admittedly complex work, the scientists are, after all, merely manipulating existing material. Scientists still haven’t truly started from scratch and brought anything into existence ex nihilo.
But the real concern should be over the ethical implications of such research. Savulescu remarked that such experiments and their results are, “creaking open the most profound door in humanity's history, potentially peeking into its destiny.” The prospect of new life forms being developed is unsettling enough. Of great significance are two realities, that: (a) such scientific powers are being honed in an age when man’s moral sensibilities seem to be at their most diminished. And (b) these scientific “advances” are coming about in the age of global terrorism and amidst political instabilities throughout the world.
Here in America, most individuals aged from childhood up are polarized by discussions over what is right and wrong. As debate over values perpetually increases, the practice of virtue seems to correspondingly decrease. In a self-contradictory twist, the assumption that there are no absolute moral truths has become dogma for many Americans.
Our nation might be well served to reflect on the fact that the moral code originated from God. Some of history’s best and brightest thinkers (such as Augustine and Aquinas, not to mention America’s founders) believed that ultimate moral truth exists, can be known, and originated from God. In his book The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis gives historical documentation that all cultures throughout history have recognized a basic, common moral code of what was right and wrong. The Christian scriptures (such as Romans, chapter 2) also tell us that mankind knows what is morally right, even though he may earnestly give himself over to what is morally wrong. Man has known the moral code, even when he did not always follow the moral code.
The reason that this ubiquitous moral code is not open for revisions is because God’s nature (or essence) does not change. Remember that God is eternal. Morality⎯ reflective of Who God is⎯ likewise, does not change. The question becomes “To what degree is my aversion to the moral code an offense to the One Who handed down the moral code?” Opposition or indifference to “natural law,” i.e. “morality,” is actually a rebellion against the Lawgiver.
The human ethical problem is a sort of militant autonomy⎯ the desire to live independently of God. In previous times, we called this sin, and most had no problem admitting their own share in human culpability. Today, many impose their own standards over God's standard, and set themselves up as their own moral judges. American culture of 2010 all but shouts: "Since God's way cuts across the grain of our own wants and desires, we’ll disbar God, and replace Him with a Law-giver that may be tolerated more easily...ourselves.”
Commenting on the potentials of the hybrid bacteria, Dr. Venter said, “We are entering a new era where we're limited mostly by our imaginations.” I would submit that we’d better be limited by something more than just our imaginations. When operating apart from solid moral grounding, the human imagination has inflicted some grisly things on the world. Let’s hope that today’s cutting-edge laboratories don’t create biological armaments, which wind up equipping modern libertines to set new benchmarks in human suffering.
Some say that such scientists are “playing God.” But before doing that, modern science would have to recognize that there is One! Whatever the scientists are doing, let us pray that the results are ultimately handled only by those who live within standards of absolute morality and who recognize the value of human life.
About Alex McFarland
Author, educator, and speaker Alex McFarland has spoken in all 50 states and internationally. He is the founder of Truth For A New Generation, the nation’s largest conference on apologetics and evidence for the Christian faith.
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