Flying pigs and microscopic wonders

Forum discusses relationship between faith and biotechnology

CW staff
— Winnipeg —

A microscopic universe is gaining power and people of faith need to take note.

Biotechnology is gaining prominence every day, in areas such as genetic experimentation and food processing, says Eric Beresford, ethics and technology consultant to the Anglican Church of Canada. He points out that the phenomenon of biotechnology “has such power and significance that it can make the Industrial Revolution look like a Sunday school picnic.”

Beresford was one of many speakers from fields including science, faith, agriculture, ethics and philosophy who took part in a November 2 forum sponsored by the Biotechnology Reference Group of the Canadian Council of Churches.

The consultation was given the whimsical title “Should pigs fly?” as it focused on questions surrounding the complex issues of biotechnological research and implementation.

The basic discussion of the day revolved around the idea that what is possible isn’t necessarily the same as what is right.

Local organizer Peter Denton, a philosophy professor at the University of Winnipeg, said nothing in science or technology happens in a vacuum. Three systems relate at once, he added: biological, technological and belief. “What we do is riddled with values,” he maintained: “what is good and bad, what is important and unimportant.”

From a Christian perspective, the most important contribution to the dialogue “is to change the direction of the burden of proof to show that changes (in biotechnology) are necessary before they become irreversible,” he said.

But not all is gloom and doom, as some later panelists pointed out the positives in the biotechnological world.

University of Manitoba plant scientist Anita Brule-Babel said some of the positive applications for genetic technology include the production of pharmaceuticals and food processing agents, where a biological organism “is used as a factory.”

But scientists and people of faith alike need to think through the issues and consider the weight of responsibility behind biotechnological advances.

“We have to be very vigilant to make sure we are asking the right questions,” she said. “We cannot implement this technology without this discussion.”

Beresford, who closed the day-long session, agreed the discussion on how technologies affect communities and relationships needs to continue.

“We’ve begun a process and it’s been incredibly productive,” he said.

The Council of Churches hopes to continue the series of discussions, with five more planned for the future.