Journal Articles

Gene Therapy

According to the National Human Genome Research Institute (2022), gene therapy is a technique that uses a gene(s) to treat, prevent or cure a disease or medical disorder. It is a novel approach to medicine that has been pursued in hopes of preventing genetic diseases and disorders. However, some ethical issues apply. For instance, because gene therapy is so new and costly, what happens if it is successful but only the wealthy can afford it? Will it mean that those who are poor are still suffer from genetic disorders are likely to be discriminated against? That is one of the concerns put forward by the National Library of Medicine (2022).

Another concern is that people may use gene therapy to alter their biological traits, i.e., make themselves or their children taller, stronger, have certain features, etc. Is this tantamount to playing God? It could certainly be argued that way. After all, God is a co-creator in the human race. He is a collaborator Who takes part in giving to each person a soul and a special character: Psalm 139:13-14 states, For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. The special nature of man is such that God takes part in each creative act. Is it offensive to God for man to try to change what God has ordained insofar as people are concerned? Or is it acceptable for mankind to try to perfect themselves if possible through gene therapy? This is a question that is perhaps still unclear. What is clear is that some people believe gene therapy is a noble pursuit, and others worry that it might lead to greater inequality in the world. The most important thing for us, however, as Christians is to remember Ephesians 2:10: For we are Gods handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

GMOs

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are all over the world today, and much of what we consume is in some way or form a GMO. One potential problem, however, is that GMOs might escape and introduced the engineered gene into the wild thus affecting all of the wild or natural species and changing it. When mankind changes something, it affects its essence, and if that change is then manifested in all species, it alters the balance or shape of the natural ecology. This can have dire or lasting effects on food chains and on the global populace. Even the smallest...

…Materia Medica that was the basic bible of natural medicine for people. But then medicine began to be politicized and seen more as a business than as a way to help people. Rockefeller helped usher in the era of for-profit medicine by jumpstarting the pharmaceutical industry, to which he could sell oil. He promoted a new science and got everyone to trust the science of Rockefeller; he helped create new standards in schools that would get everyone trusting in the science, and thus he promoted the new medicine of the modern era that focuses on drug intervention as opposed to natural healing. This is not to say that all drugs are unhelpful but just to suggest that there is a profit-motive behind modern medicine (Mantis, 2019).

Proverbs 16:8 states, Better is a little with righteousness Than great income with injustice. What this means from a Christian perspective is that medicine should always and only be practiced with righteousness, and people who do medicine have a duty to make sure that they are serving people and not the profit-driven motives of an industry established to put profits before people. The idea that people should be reliant upon big pharma when for thousands of years natural medicine helped people goes against the true idea of medicine from a Christian perspective. Preventive health is very Christian…