Like many other issues, genetic engineering has sparked a heated debate. Some people believe that it has the potential to become the new "miracle tool" of medicine.

"Advances in the field of genetic engineering

could mean progress on an unprecedented scale for all civilization"

To others, this new technology borders on the realm of immorality, and is an omen of the danger to come. They are firmly convinced that this human intervention into nature is unethical, and will bring about the destruction of mankind.

"... the promise of genetic engineering as a tool of medicine is matched only

by the threat it would pose to human society and civilization."

Rapid advances in medical science have fuelled the question of bioethics

"...The principle question to be answered is whether we have the right to put an additional fearful load on generations not yet born. Our time is cursed with the necessity for feeble men, masquerading as experts, to make enormously far-reaching decisions. Is there anything more far-reaching than the creation of forms of life? You can stop splitting the atom; you can stop visiting the moon; you can stop using aerosols; you may even decide not to kill entire populations by the use of a few bombs. But you cannot recall a new form of life. An irreversible attack on the biosphere is something so unheard-of, so unthinkable to previous generations, that I could only wish that mine had not been guilty of it.

To tell the truth, the expression "genetic manipulation" remains ambiguous and should constitute an object of true moral discernment. It covers, on the one hand, adventuresome endeavors aimed at promoting I know not what kind of superman and, on the other hand, desirable and salutary interventions aimed at the correction of anomalies such as certain hereditary illnesses. Not to mention, of course, the beneficent applications in the domains of animal and vegetable biology that favor food production. For these last cases, some are beginning to speak, of "genetic surgery," so as to show more clearly that medicine intervenes not in order to modify nature but to favor its development in its own life, that of the creation, as intended by God."

In contrast, two other prominent scientists have displayed their displeasure about genetic engineering. They have made no secret of the rather strong feelings against genetic engineering. George Wald, Nobel Prize-winning biologist and Harvard professor, wrote:

Erwin Chargoff, an eminent geneticist who is sometimes called the father of modern microbiology too echoed Wald's concerns. He commented:

In his 1983 address to members of the World Medical Association, Pope John Paul II, as the representative of the Catholic Church, shed some light on the topic from a different perspective. He did not refute the blatantly true statement that God is the "creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen", nor did he deny that "medicine is an eminent, essential form of service to mankind." However, he hastened to add, "the extraordinary and rapid advance of medical science entails frequent rethinking of its deontology."

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1759
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)