Statement on Biotechnology and Medicine

By staff - Mar 1, 2004 - 3

Biotechnology and medicine are the new frontiers of the 21st century. Hardly a day goes by without some mention of a new advancement in medicine, pharmaceuticals, or biomedical engineering. From The Human Genome Project to human cloning, from stem cells to artificial organs, the headlines speak of the fascination with biotechnology in today’s culture. Advancements in biotechnology have revolutionized medicine, how we view life and death, and our very existence as human beings, but many of these astounding advancements have ushered in some very complex and haunting ethical quandaries: How do we define human life? When does life begin? When does biotechnology breach human dignity or disregard the sanctity of human life? Can a healing end justify a deadly means? As biotechnology moves forward over the next century, the questions will only become more complex and the debates more passionate.

As Christians, we are called to be salt and light in our world (Matt. 5:13-16). Often we dismiss biomedical issues as out of our sphere of influence and unrelated to our call to influence society for God. In doing so, we deny our responsibility to bring the light of truth to bear on some of these difficult questions. With the prevalence of biotechnology and the gravity of the corresponding ethical implications, Christians cannot afford to be uninformed, unconcerned, or uninvolved. We cannot afford to remain silent as technology revolutionizes our view of God’s most precious creation, human life.

We often do not know where to begin though. The science is complex, the technology is awe-inspiring, and the debates are quite heated and sophisticated. Hopefully, this website can help. The Biomedical Ethics website seeks to offer resources to educate and inform you on some of the most important issues in biomedical ethics, while using principles from God’s Word to guide the discussion of each topic.

Further Learning

Learn more about: Life, Abortion, Cloning, End-of-Life Issues, Stem-Cell Research, Citizenship, Social Issues, Science, Bioethics

3 comments (post your own) feed

1 On May 10th, 2007, at 6:45am, Vitao wrote:

Keep up the great work!

2 On Sep 26th, 2007, at 8:02am, DR>shovon chakma wrote:

sir
i am shovon chakma completed my graduation in DVM and now doing post graduation.Now i studying biotechnology.Sir i am happy to study this subject.
Sir i need some article or paper on “Biotechnology and religious issues”.
I am very greatfull if you send some paper on my address.
Thank u

3 On Nov 18th, 2007, at 11:13am, Peter Groen wrote:

Depending on which major studies you read, at least 44,000 people, and perhaps as many as 200,000 people, die as inpatients in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented. It was also estimated in a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) article that there were 199,000 deaths from medical errors in outpatient care alone. To put this into perspective, this is the equivalent of a World Trade Center disaster every week for over a year and a half, or the crash of two fully loaded 747 aircrafts every day of the year.

This situation can be turned around by the use of electronic health record (EHR) systems. Yet, even though the President has mandated the use of EHR systems nationwide by 2014 progress remains painfully slow. Perhaps the church can lend a hand in helping to examine and publically supporting the need to support the President’s initiative.

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