Archbishop of Sydney

No Human 'Dollies'

By + George Pell
ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
26 August 2001

We are on the brink of dazzling new scientific developments, promising both good and ill for the future of mankind, like splitting the atom which produced nuclear power and the terrible destructive force of the atomic bomb.

During the Second Word War, Hitler used his concentration camps to practise eugenics, to wipe out defectives and experiment on people in the hope of breeding out imperfections. One long term danger, if only a slim possibility, is that rich and unscrupulous persons will try to produce a master race of rulers, and perhaps even try to produce a race of healthy, strong and docile slaves to serve them.

Isn't this far-fetched nonsense, impossible science fiction? It will always remain impossible in a society with an informed public, a sense of human dignity, knowledge of right and wrong formed by Christian sensibilities, where scientists are answerable to society through parliament and the courts. But already we are close to being able to do produce particular clones in the animal world.

Some old jokes now lose much of their force with the collapse of ancient natural limitations. When the beautiful blond told the English playwright George Bernard Shaw that they should have a baby with her beauty and his brains, he replied that he could not cooperate because the baby might finish up with her brains and his looks. Science can now do much better than this.

Recently there has been much discussion about the cloning of human stem cells. These stem cells can have the potential to develop into particular organs of the body, and offer possibilities of spectacular cures for many diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. Probably none of those cures are close, as progress has been slow; but the promise remains and is real.

The Catholic Church supports ethical stem cell therapy, because it provides the promise of healing without killing. The Church is opposed to harvesting stem cells from human embryos because they can only be harvested by killing the embryos. Humans, even when they are minuscule, should not be farmed. Humans are neither means to an end, nor the equivalent of animal material which can be used for worthy research purposes. Human embryos should not be created for experimentation and even existing human embryos, surplus from I.V.F. procedures, should not be destroyed in experiments.

We should support research on adult stem cells, taken from existing adults without any killing. Most of the research throughout the world is on these adult cells, and recently Melbourne researchers made an important breakthrough in capturing stem cells from adult brain and skin.

We should be careful to examine claims and promises very closely, because big money is available for promising research and successful breakthroughs will win immense profits. In the meantime there will be many dead ends and much investment wasted.

We should all unite to oppose human cloning, producing human photocopies.

The report of the federal parliamentary committee is due soon and should be examined closely.

We hope they remember the warning of C.S. Lewis "The softest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without signposts".

We need signposts and some stop signs.