Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
manipulation of any kind. They have welcomed the prospect of germ
line genetic therapy for well-characterized diseases, such as Tay-Sachs. A
central figure in the Conservative Jewish tradition, Elliot N. Dorff,
writes, “When used in this therapeutic way, genetic engineering is an
unmitigated blessing.”
53
This view is shared by representatives of other
branches of Judaism (see, for instance, Fred Rosner [Orthodox] and
Walter Jacob [Reform]).
54
Dorff adds that “since sickness is degrading,
it would be our
duty
to cure the disease at its root if we could, so that
future generations will not be affected.”
55
At the same time, some Jewish theologians are concerned about the
difficulty of setting limits on genetic intervention when it goes beyond
such a narrow therapeutic role. Dorff, among other Jewish theologians,
fully recognizes that it will be difficult to tell what to count as an accept-
able intervention and what to count as enhancement. He asks, “How do
we determine when we are using genetic engineering appropriately to aid
God in ongoing, divine acts of cure and creation and when, on the other
hand, are we usurping the proper prerogatives of God to determine the
nature of creation?”
56
Jewish theologians who have written on this ques-
tion have taken opposing positions. In “Judaism and Gene Design,”
Orthodox rabbi Azriel Rosenfeld argues, “Our sages recognize, and
perhaps even encourage, the use of prenatal (or better, preconceptual)
influences to improve one's offspring.”
57
Other rabbis—David Golinkin
is an example—disagree, pointing out that Nazi and other attempts at
eugenics amply demonstrate the difficulty of finding criteria for knowing
what a good trait is.
58
Genetic Engineering in the Natural Environment
There are striking parallels in the invocation of nature by proponents of
environmental protection and opponents of genetic engineering. Both
appeals are characterized by arguments that move between the pruden-
tial value of nature and a variety of noninstrumental values. The early
conservationists sought to preserve nature because of the threat its
destruction posed to human well-being, that is, to our capacity to feed
and shelter ourselves. While arguments of this form are, of course, still
made, often with cogency (for example, in the debate over global
