A Watershed in Genetic Experimentation

There was great consternation at the recent report regarding genetic modification experiments being conducted in China. While such experiments have been done openly on embryos and in other contexts, this was a live experiment done on a viable human being. In this case the gene edited babies were made immune to HIV.

The West is still working out the 'ethics' of gene-editing even while forging ahead in the research. We all know it's coming and yet for once there is a modicum of fear even in the scientific community. Normally they are (generally speaking) all too happy to dispense with tradition and ethical norms in order to bring us the 'utopia' the religion of Scientism promises.

But in this case some fear a dystopian turn if the technology is used improperly. They want to see it used to counter diseases while the avaricious, self-seeking as well as those wielding power would use it for other means. There are viable fears that such tinkering with the genetic code will eventually 'play out' and have ramifications across the spectrum and it has the potential to affect and forever change all of mankind.

So the phony debate goes on and you can guarantee that the Church will be led into confusion by its multitude of compromised and corrupted leaders. Rather than oppose this blasphemous technology part and parcel, the Church (used here in general terms) will dance around the issue and just as many Evangelicals (and others) have supported IVF and other technologies, they'll support this too. In fact I would argue the dominant theology of the day makes it inevitable.

But listening to the story I am struck by history. Time and time again, the United States and the West in general have been pulled onto dark paths with regard to scientific and technological research. In retrospect these developments are viewed as unfortunate but there's always an excuse....

They were doing it, so we had to do it as well.

Does anyone doubt that's the case in this instance? I know it's illegal but again if you're looking to the history you'll realise that's never stopped these people. In the post 9/11 world, the Golden Age of intelligence, secrecy and unaccountability has returned. The agents of the state can act with impunity and if there's any fear of exposure all they have to do is move the operations and experiments offshore. This has been done before as well. One only need look to the famed syphilis experiments in Guatemala as an example. That's how it's done. Of course Tuskegee points to the reality of such experiments in the United States but this is only the tip of the iceberg. The US has a long record of illegal and unethical medical and scientific experimentation.

You can be sure the United States is pursuing the same kind of technology and engaged in similar experiments. If not, they will be but given that China's genetic sector has been pushing the envelope for years, it's certain Washington has not been idle.

China has taken a particularly dark turn under Xi Jinping and one will hardly shed any tears if that regime goes down in flames and yet just because Beijing and Moscow are evil and even bestial in their aspirations, in no way does that mean that Washington can take the moral high ground. It is but another monster cut from the same cloth. Many Evangelical leaders decry such arguments rooted in 'moral equivalence' as if such comparisons are impossible to even consider. And thus they (along with their flocks) plunge off the cliff into the whirlpool and chaos of idolatry.

Watching the world leaders arrive at the G20 summit in Argentina I did not see integrity, prestige, dignity or figures worthy of accolade or emulation. Rather I saw heads of the hydra, beasts and would-be beasts meeting to scheme and plot... against their citizens and against each other.

Someday it will come out. It may be thirty years from now and I may not live to see it, but the revelations will come to light that the US and its allies were also engaged in genetic experimentation and modification and I wouldn't be surprised if they've already been doing it for more than a decade. And yet the fairly recent introduction of CRISPR (despite the many 'unknowns' it creates) has proven to be a game-changer. I don't think we fully understand what is on the horizon.

As far as the Chinese scientist he has (as of now) disappeared... I'm sure there's a story in that as well.