A spiritual view on genetic engineering

There is a lot of discussion and hind-legs-raising on the subject of genetics these days, because genetic technology is around the corner. It seems that anti-technological movements in particular (be they religious or statist) have taken this cause as their "test case", and the numerous bans being passed around the world seems to hail their success. For the first time since the Renaissance, humanity is actively fighting against scientific advancement itself - fighting against the very thing that has made him what he now is.

But that is precisely part of the problem : these technologies pertain to what we are. Are we not, first and foremost, a genetic code ? And if this is the case, do genetic engineering and cloning affect, as its detractors are keen to say without much argumentation - as if it was self-evident - "human dignity". What is human dignity and where does its interests lie ?

First of all, we must set the terms of the debate clearly. Genetic engineering is not something wholly new : the human species has been doing it to other species, be it domestic animals or crops, for millenias. It's called breeding. Cloning is also nothing esoteric - it already occurs in nature, every time identical twins are born. Such twins are simply two individuals who share the same genetic code. All that cloning does is create a newborn having the same genetic code as another individual animal (human or otherwise). Because of the influence of the environment on the individual, he will not grow up to be exactly the same as the individual having the original code.

If both these things are rather usual, then how can objections against them be presented ? Once again, the only philosophical argument ever invoked against them (this excludes technical questions of quality) is "human dignity" - that the very existence of human nature demands respect towards it. No one questions that human nature demands respect, if only because of its omnipresence in human activity. However, this argument equates dignity with infallibility. It is not dignified to worship, but it is certainly dignified to improve. We accept that natural things must be worked on and improved in order to use them with efficiency, why do we refuse to acknowledge this fact about humanity as well ?

This notion of worship seems, at its basis, to be grounded on the notion of specialness. If we see the human genome as a fundamental part of our body, such as it is, there is no reason to fight against its improvement and health, just as we would any other organ. The illusion, the arrogance to believe that human nature is some kind of exhalted, unchangeable state - with all its diseases and inefficiencies - entails either a statement of divine creation or assumed specialness. Both are totally unacceptable. There is no benefit from such delusions.

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