E-raamat: Design and Destiny: Jewish and Christian Perspectives on Human Germline Modification

Scholars discuss the genetic modification of embryonic cells from the viewpoints oftraditional Jewish and Christian teaching, considering both the possible therapeutic benefits ofthis technology and moral concerns about its implementation.

We are approaching the day when advances in biotechnology will allow parents to"design" a baby with the traits they want. The continuing debate over the possibilities ofgenetic engineering has been spirited, but so far largely confined to the realms of bioethics andpublic policy. Design and Destiny approaches the question in religious terms, discussing humangermline modification (the genetic modification of the embryonic cells that become the eggs or spermof a developing organism) from the viewpoints of traditional Christian and Jewish teaching. Thecontributors, leading religious scholars and writers, call our attention not to technology but tohumanity, reflecting upon the meaning and destiny of human life in a technological age. Many ofthese scholars argue that religious teaching can support human germline modification implemented fortherapeutic reasons, although they offer certain moral conditions that must be met. The essays offera surprising variety of opinions, including a discussion of Judaism's traditional presumption infavor of medicine, an argument that Catholic doctrine could accept germline modification if it istherapeutic for the embryo, an argument implying that "traditional" Christian teachingpermits germline modification whether for therapy or enhancement, and a "classical"Protestant view that germline modification should be categorically opposed. ContributorsLisa SowleCahill, Nigel M. de S. Cameron, Ronald Cole-Turner, Amy Michelle DeBaets, Celia Deane-Drummond,Elliot Dorff, H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Thomas A. Shannon, James J. Walter Ronald Cole-Turner isH. Parker Sharp Professor of Theology and Ethics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is theauthor of The New Genesis: Theology and the Genetic Revolution and the coauthor of PastoralGenetics: Theology and Care at the Beginning of Life.