Three religious views on science

There is a very interesting piece in today’s Orange County Register by John Tierney regarding the different ways that the world views some of the cutting edge biotech going on today (stem cells, cloning, modified foods). Depending upon where you are in the world, different sorts of scientific research are allowed or restricted. I always knew that here in the US we had restrictions on research that destroyed embryos and on cloning. And I also understood that in other parts of the world they had different regulations. For example, in southern and eastern Asia there are little or no restrictions on this type of research. In much of Europe, there is opposition to genetically modified (GM) foods. But this article helps us understand why these distinctions exist.

According to Tierney, there are three basic religious viewpoints on biotechnology, as shown in the table below:

While these groupings are a bit of a generalization, it does give insight into how the world is dividing on these issues.  You can also see how this plays out on this map.

Tierney ends his piece with this insight:

It is by no means certain that this type of stem-cell research will ever yield treatments for diseases like Parkinson’s, but should that happen, it is hard to see how any Congress – or any law – could stop people from seeking cures.

Tags: stem cell research genetically modified food science re