The announcement that a human being has been “cloned” by a group of scientists—a claim for which no evidence has yet been seen—rekindles interest in, and speculation about, how far science can and should go to alleviate human suffering. Considering its long-standing involvement in health care and cutting edge techniques, such as infant heart transplants, professionals and lay members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church might well ask if there are instances where cloning is permissible, or is all cloning always wrong?

According to Dr. Gerald Winslow, dean of the Faculty of Religion and professor of ethics at Loma Linda University, “attempting to clone a human being at this point in human history would be irresponsible, and the main point [is] it would be highly dangerous. We don’t know what the likely risks are for any baby that would or might be produced in this way.”

Such uncertainty about the results—would a “cloned” human experience immediate or unforeseen illness or impairment, for example, and would society treat such persons as less desirable or expendable—raise moral issues Christians will need to confront, Winslow said.

“What gets altered in all of this is the set of questions that we bring to the topic of the essence of human existence. The basic question that arises in the minds of a lot of Christians ... is whether we’ve overstepped the boundaries,” Winslow told ANN in a telephone interview.  “It’s fairly evident that we won’t be able to look up a passage of scripture, so we will have to do something that Christians have always had to do, and that is search for underlying Biblical principles,” he said.

He added, “Part of the Adventist commitment in ethics is to say this is a responsibility that each member has as a matter of personal accountability before God. We’re given instruction and the power of the Holy Spirit and we’re asked to be thoughtful. I think it’s a good opportunity for Christians to think about basic principles.”

The Adventist Church, in a 1998 statement drafted in part by Winslow and Loma Linda University School of Medicine microbiology and biochemistry professor Dr. Anthony J. Zuccarelli, said that while cloning to produce a human being was morally unacceptable, the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer, which creates genetic material that can be used to prevent or repair damage from disease, can be allowed.

“It is a Christian responsibility to prevent suffering and to preserve the quality of human life (Acts 10:38; Luke 9:2),” the Adventist statement said. “If it is possible to prevent genetic disease through the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer, the use of this technology may be in keeping with the goal of preventing avoidable suffering.”

The 1998 statement, available online in English at http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/main_stat38.html notes, that “the rapid pace of progress in this field will require periodic review of these principles in light of new developments.”

Loma Linda University Medical Center, established by the Adventist Church in 1905, is internationally renowned for its medical research and treatments in areas such as heart transplant surgery and non-invasive proton beam therapy for prostate and breast cancer.