The Problem of Synthetic Life
As you may or may not be aware, The American biologists Hamilton Smith and Craig Venter have created synthetic life or more precisely, created a bacterium that has an artificial genome (Synthia). When I first read the article in the times about it my initial thoughts were that it is a remarkable achievement and I sincerely hope they get a Nobel prize for this. However not all people share my enthusiasm. A fellow student at my university also posted a blog about the subject. Although he did credit what an achievement it is he also expressed his concern as a Christian.
I was raised Catholic. Taught at a Catholic primary school, high school and college. As I child I attended church as much as Martin would take me and truly believed in God. This however is no longer the case. I was also taught by my mum (who is a Pagan) about religious segregation and the various atrocities committed in the name of God. After asking too many questions for my teacher’s and priest’s liking; I began to see gaping holes in the reasoning of Catholicism and eventually I lost faith and turned to science. Religious problems with the discovery made by Smith and Venter do not concern me. I maintain the belief that if there is a higher power she knows I’m doing the best I can to be a good person and help the human race and if not, well why worry about it, make the most of life. My concern is people.
When Oppenheimer the trinity test he quoted the Bhagavad Gita of India
“Now I am become Death, the shatterer of worlds.”
I don’t think Oppenheimer was an evil man. He was a scientist who’s research was used for the wrong purposes, and it happens all the time. Although Smith and Venter’s research could be used to help so many people and do remarkable things, there will be people somewhere who want to use this technology for the worst means possible. Stanley Milgram’s experiment regarding human obedience was a clear indication of the capabilities of humanity.
Furthermore in regards to other technology of similar (all be it vaguely) nature such as cloning, the issue of rights has often presented a difficult moral standing. If this technology is used to create synthetic human life (eventually, obviously this is a much more difficult feat than a single celled organism), there are many who will take advantage of the fact that this new life is not technically human and therefore cannot be subject to human rights. Not to mention the mass amount of ethnocentrism we already display to begin with. I do not claim that people are inherently evil, but I don’t claim they are inherently good. My old psychology teacher once said
“good people are capable of evil things”
I think that statement sums up my worry.
Times online article about Smith and Venter’s achievement: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/biology_evolution/article7132299.ece
