Genetic Engineering

Question 1

What are saviour siblings?

Answer 1

A child that is genetically engineered so that it can be used to save a sibling (not a parent)

Used for tissue transplant or blood transfusion, organ transplant is not allowed

Should always be a last resort to save the child

Question 2

What are the for and against arguments for saviour siblings?

Answer 2

For:

1) Jesus healed the sick
2) saviour siblings are given a valuable purpose in life
3) loosing a child is devastating - prevents loss

Against:

1) embryos are destroyed in the process
2) only valuable for what it can provide
3) open to abuse, used as ‘spare parts’

Question 3

What is somatic cell therapy?

Answer 3

1) Uses hybrid (mixture of human and animal dna) embryos for medical research
2) Humans are created in the image of God - hybrid embryos go against this and devalue gods image
3) embryos are destroyed - “do not murder”

Question 4

What are designer babies?

Answer 4

Manipulating and screening embryo to choose the desired characteristics of a child

Responses:

1) all embryos are created in gods image and are entitled to life
2) encourages embryos who are not perfect to be destroyed - superficiality
3) God gave us the gift of science so it is his will