Genetic Human Experimentation and Ethics

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen

Big news from Hong Kong. An announcement made there Monday, November 26, 2018, that He Jiankui used CRISPR gene editing technology to produce the first modified babies. Many scientists are outraged. This kind of "medical research" is, to be blunt, human experimentation. It is also illegal in the United States and other parts of the world.


An announcement in China involves the birth of genetically modified babies. Such activity is illegal and considered unethical in most of the world, and many serious considerations are raised.
Background image courtesy of Why?Outreach
A large part of the concern involves ethics. Some American scientists are upset that we did not do it first because we would have done it right. It sounds like their teeth are on edge from sour grapes at not being the first to succeed. Would they have done the genetic altering more ethically? That'll be the day! These people want laws changed to break "biological shackles" for their experimentation.

Bible-believing Christians know that people are created in the image of God. Materialists have a worldview that advocate Scientism and evolution, and they reduce humans to mere biological functions. Their view of ethics does not have a consistent moral foundation, so it would not be surprising to this child to learn that secular scientists in the West modified their ethics as well as the genes of children. Indeed, they are not meddling with the immediate child or children, but subsequent generations.

Complaints of secular scientists do not hold much credibility when given examination, especially their actions and attitudes in recent history. This kind of thing has serious ramifications, and such tinkering will only escalate since our Creator is not allowed in the lab. Someday , such science may become Orwellian. It is getting closer to that in China, since they are far less opposed to ethical and moral considerations in science. Not surprising, since China is known for trampling human rights in general.

The inspiration for this article came from an insightful podcast by Dr. Albert Mohler. I'd be much obliged if you'd read the transcript or listen to it. To do so, click and look for "As scientist claims first babies have been born using gene-editing technology CRISPR, the ethical implications are massive". The rest of the podcast should be mighty interesting for you as well. 

This article may be expanded later if additional relevant information becomes available.