Spiritual Dimensions of the Human Genome Project
Richard Choate, MA Philosopy, University of St. Thomas
Reductionism – that is, the view that the whole is nothing more than the sum of its parts – pervades most if not all of western medicine. Given the evermore impressive technological advancements such as artificial hearts, bionic eyes, etc., reductionism can even seem like a reasonable position, even for those who may have theoretical qualms with it. To a large extent it works: treating patients like machines. However, treating patients merely as a collection of parts (some of which need to be removed, replaced, or fixed) not only leads to a variety of ethical problems, it is also just scientifically inaccurate. In this paper, I show how the Human Genome Project and comparative genomics have raised insurmountable difficulties for the reductionist point of view. In particular, I address three major paradoxes: the first, regarding the relationship between complexity and gene number; the second, regarding the ratio of genes to proteins; and the third, regarding the results of certain knockout techniques (techniques used to destroy certain genes). Given this situation, I further argue that this undoing of reductionism, according to which the human being is nothing more than a collection of parts, opens us up to the possibility of deeper spiritual dimensions, which may, in turn, provide space for theological or religious considerations in medicine.
Reductionism – that is, the view that the whole is nothing more than the sum of its parts – pervades most if not all of western medicine. Given the evermore impressive technological advancements such as artificial hearts, bionic eyes, etc., reductionism can even seem like a reasonable position, even for those who may have theoretical qualms with it. To a large extent it works: treating patients like machines. However, treating patients merely as a collection of parts (some of which need to be removed, replaced, or fixed) not only leads to a variety of ethical problems, it is also just scientifically inaccurate. In this paper, I show how the Human Genome Project and comparative genomics have raised insurmountable difficulties for the reductionist point of view. In particular, I address three major paradoxes: the first, regarding the relationship between complexity and gene number; the second, regarding the ratio of genes to proteins; and the third, regarding the results of certain knockout techniques (techniques used to destroy certain genes). Given this situation, I further argue that this undoing of reductionism, according to which the human being is nothing more than a collection of parts, opens us up to the possibility of deeper spiritual dimensions, which may, in turn, provide space for theological or religious considerations in medicine.
