merely victims of biology? SCIENTISTS are hard at work to try to find genetic causes for alcoholism, homosexuality, promiscuity, violence, other aberrant behavior, and even for death itself. Would it not be a relief to find that we are not responsible for our actions but are merely victims of biology? It is human nature to blame someone or something else for our errors.
If the genes are to blame, scientists hold out the possibility of changing them, eliminating undesirable traits through genetic engineering. The recent success in mapping the entire human genome has given such aspirations new impetus.
This scenario, however, is based on the premise that our genetic endowment is, indeed, the villain responsible for all our sins and errors. Have the scientific detectives found enough evidence to make a case against our genes?
Obviously, the answer will profoundly affect how we see ourselves and our future.
Or is it more suitable to think of mans creation,or at least have heard of, the account about the fall of the first human pair, Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden. Were they made with some intrinsic defect in the genes right from the start, a sort of design flaw that predisposed them to sin and disobedience?
If the genes are to blame, scientists hold out the possibility of changing them, eliminating undesirable traits through genetic engineering. The recent success in mapping the entire human genome has given such aspirations new impetus.
This scenario, however, is based on the premise that our genetic endowment is, indeed, the villain responsible for all our sins and errors. Have the scientific detectives found enough evidence to make a case against our genes?
Obviously, the answer will profoundly affect how we see ourselves and our future.
Or is it more suitable to think of mans creation,or at least have heard of, the account about the fall of the first human pair, Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden. Were they made with some intrinsic defect in the genes right from the start, a sort of design flaw that predisposed them to sin and disobedience?