Questions on bioethics and biomedical research will be asked more frequently in the months to come, since the world is now waiting for the arrival of the first cloned human. The Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC) has recently announced its recommendations after 10 months of consultation with various religious and professional groups. A few months ago plans were unveiled for the building of a complex called Biopolis at Buona Vista to build a thriving biomedical R & D hub here in Singapore. We cannot ignore these momentous changes, as they will affect us.

Nowhere is the danger of playing God more evident, than in the area of biomedical science. Almost all the leading research scientists in the genetic field are either atheists or agnostics who look only within themselves for ethical guidance. They reject the idea of a sovereign God who created us, and to Whom we are accountable. To them, humans are only a product of blind, mindless evolution, and they are helping man to make further and faster progress in evolution. For this reason, we need scriptural principles to deal with these bioethical issues instead of being led blindly into a "Brave New World."

The Bible tells us that man is the highest of all God’s creatures, being made on the sixth day of creation in His own image, as the grand climax of all creation! King David said in Ps 139:14, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." If you could see the millions of intricate little events that must happen in exact and precise co-ordination and in proper sequence when a new person is developing from a single cell into a newborn child, you would truly marvel at how awesome God’s creative power is! There are so many things that can go wrong in the formation of a new human being and if just one small little detail fails, there would be disastrous results!

Can any man ever claim credit for this? Should any man ever attempt to determine what a new individual will look like, and what attributes or personality he will have? Not at all. These are prerogatives that belong to God alone, and He is greatly glorified in them. But some are already talking about the day when man can design himself. On June 26, 2000, researchers moved a step closer to realising this when they announced the completion of a "working draft" reference DNA sequence of the human genome. One day soon, prospective parents may be able to walk into a medical store called "Genes R Us" and choose whatever physical and mental features they would like their child to have. Imagine what will happen when the child that is born grows up and reads Ps 139:14, "I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." How will he praise God for what he is? What if he is not happy with the way that his parents designed him? What if there is a flaw in their design? Can he sue them in court for it?

Using genetic technology to heal the sick is fine. But using it to breed and evolve stronger, more intelligent kinds of human beings is playing God. History has shown that whenever some new development in technology opens up new possibilities for enhancing human life, there will always be a demand for it. This is due to the idea that man has evolved from lower beings, and is still evolving and progressing into a higher being. It is the same sinful desire as that of wanting to be as gods that Satan tempted Eve to commit (Gen 3:5), and that Satan himself had, "I will be like the most high" (Isa 14:14). The desire to be like God and to play God is part of the rebellious sinful nature of fallen man.

This is the motivation behind the present race to produce the first human clone. Cloning of humans oversteps the boundaries set by God, and should be absolutely forbidden because man is created in God’s image. And what is disturbing about the BAC’s recommendations is that though they do not condone the cloning of human beings, they allow for therapeutic cloning of human embryos. Scientists believe that cloning is a great way to perpetuate genius, that it can provide soldier and servant classes of people, and provide spare body parts. But these reasons are utilitarian and man-centred. They do not bring any glory to God. No consideration is made at all, of how the clones themselves will feel about being products of biomedical technology, made just to fulfill these utilitarian purposes.

Since God is the originator of human life, He alone has the right to decide when a person’s life is to end. One moral issue that scientists handling human life have to deal with, is what to do with experiments that have gone wrong. Today, the sixth Commandment "Thou shalt not kill" (Exod 20:13) is being violated by scientists who treat human fetuses as nothing more than a mass of tissue that can be destroyed at any time. Because of the public outcry against this by various groups, some have attempted to establish a limit within which experiments can be done on prenatal human life. The BAC recommends that human embryos that are 1-13 days old can be used freely for experiments or for harvesting embryonic stem cells for medical purposes. It even approves the creation of new embryos in the lab using donated sex cells, just for these purposes.

(1) The Bible consistently refers to conception when speaking of the beginning of a person’s history. Conception is mentioned 64 times in the Bible, and often as the beginning of a person’s life. See Job 3:3 and Ps 51:5. (2) According to Luke 1:42-44 John the Baptist, then only a six-month old fetus (v36) and already filled with the Holy Spirit, leaps for joy in his mother’s womb at the arrival of his cousin Jesus in Mary’s womb. The unborn Jesus was probably only a zygote or an embryo at this time, because this meeting took place shortly after Mary received the announcement that she was going to conceive Jesus soon. (3) Passages like Jeremiah 1:5 show that God calls some people into fulltime service even during their fetal life.

We must take these as God’s final word on the question, "When does human life begin?" It begins right at the time of conception. These principles need to be known and applied by all Christians, especially those who are in the field of biomedical research, or who are contemplating on being involved in it. Don’t get yourself into any career that will cause you to overstep the scriptural boundaries and to play God, no matter how good the prospects may be. There is still a lot of research that can be done in the life sciences that do not violate biblical principles, e.g. with plants and animals. It is good that the BAC recommends that the consent of parties is needed for those who are going to be involved in biomedical research. This means that no one can be compelled to take part in any research if he has strong views against it. We hope that this recommendation will be strictly implemented when the time comes. Let us always maintain a sense of reverence for what God has ordained – the miracle of human life, that God has specially made in His own image, in His own likeness.