GMforandagainst

For	Against
Prof. Patrick Bateson, vice president of the Royal Society said, "We know that animals such as the mouse share many of the 30,000 to 40,000 human genes. The results of the work involving modified test animals has resulted in such benefits as the new methods of production of human blood clotting factors. (genetically modified bio-organism.)	Another concern is that animals that have been modified to model human diseases light act as a reservoir for infection, even though these have been a crucial part of medical research for more than 20 years.
On the issue of *Playing God* Prof. Bateson said the modifications we are now making are much more precise but similar to those that have been obtained through selective breeding. Playing God also implies that we are doing something contrary to his will and purpose. However Christians have consistently taken the line that we are made to be responsible for creation. We work within it creation to understand and develop and to create using the tools of intellect and technology that intellect has produced. We are therefore living the way god created us to live and using his gifts that way too.	We are *playing* God, instead of honouring creation and the creator..
Companies want to find chickens that are salmonella free, and everybody wants cows that are immune to Foot and Mouth disease.	The move towards GM animals is partly consumer driven.
When we realise that we are not much different from each other and share 30% of our genes with banana's it doesn't seem such a problem.	The idea of moving genes between species genomes at first seems "Ghastly".
Behind the idea that something is unnatural is the idea that natural is good and unnatural is worst. So when a lion tears its prey limb from limb, that's natural and good. When a human mother has a badly presented baby in the womb, that's natural and we should let her die in childbirth. Natural is not necessarily good. This obscures the the need for careful thought about issues. When people say its unnatural they may be meaning there are unacceptable risks involved. If this is the case lets carefully explore the apparent risks and evaluate them, and then decide on the evidence available.	It's unnatural and a distortion of natural processes and therefore wrong.